Method for Harvesting Nanoparticles and Sequestering Biomarkers

ABSTRACT

Capture particles for harvesting analytes from solution and methods for using them are described. The capture particles are made up of a polymeric matrix having pore size that allows for the analytes to enter the capture particles. The pore size of the capture particles are changeable upon application of a stimulus to the particles, allowing the pore size of the particles to be changed so that analytes of interest remain sequestered inside the particles. The polymeric matrix of the capture particles are made of co-polymeric materials having a structural monomer and an affinity monomer, the affinity monomer having properties that attract the analyte to the capture particle. The capture particles may be used to isolate and identify analytes present in a mixture. They may also be used to protect analytes which are typically subject to degradation upon harvesting and to concentrate low an analyte in low abundance in a fluid.

STATEMENT OF PRIORITY

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationSer. No. 60/986,803, filed Nov. 9, 2007, and is a continuation of U.S.Pat. No. 8,382,987, issued on Feb. 26, 2013, the disclosures of whichare hereby incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to particles for the harvesting ofbiomarkers from a mixture as well as methods for using the particles.More specifically, the present invention relates to particles capable ofsequestering a biomarker from a mixture, allowing for the separation ofthe biomarker from the mixture, as well as methods for sequesteringbiomarkers. More specifically in terms of one application, the presentinvention provides for the use of harvesting nanoparticles to capture,protect from degradation, and amplify the concentration of low abundancebiomarkers in urine.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Biomarkers can provide for early stage detection of a wide variety ofdiseases. As such, there is an urgent need to discover novel biomarkersthat provide sensitive and specific disease detection (Aebersold et al.,Proteome Res 2005, 4, (4), 1104-9; Srinivas et al., Clin Chem 2002, 48,(8), 1160-9). Biomarkers provide a way to diagnose a disease beforeclinical pathologies appear, allowing for early stage treatment of thedisease, which typically provides better results.

For example, cancer is rapidly becoming the leading cause of death formany population groups in the United States, largely due to the factthat various types of the disease are usually diagnosed after the cancerhas metastasized. At this later stage of the disease, treatment istypically invasive and ineffective. It is widely believed that earlydetection of cancer prior to metastasis will lead to a dramaticimprovement in treatment outcome.

Biomarkers are also continually being discovered that are indicative ofvarious other disease states and conditions as varied as Alzheimer'sdisease and diabetes. For many of these diseases, the early diagnosis ofthe disease allows for treatment options that have a greater chance ofsuccess than late stage treatment. Further, in some cases, earlydiagnosis of a disease or predisposition to a disease may even allow theperson diagnosed to make lifestyle changes that may help to prevent andreverse the course of the disease without the need for more involvedmedical treatment.

Biomarkers are nucleic acids, proteins, protein fragments or metabolitesindicative of a specific biological state, that are associated with therisk of contraction or presence of disease (Frank and Hargreaves; Naturereviews 2003, 2, (7), 566-80). Biomarker research has revealed thatlow-abundance circulating proteins and peptides present a rich source ofinformation regarding the state of the organism as a whole (Espina etal. Proteomics 2003, 3, (11), 2091-100). Two major hurdles haveprevented these discoveries from reaching clinical benefit: 1)disease-relevant biomarkers in blood or body fluids may exist inexceedingly low concentrations within a complex mixture of biomoleculesand could be masked by high-abundance species such as albumin, and 2)degradation of protein biomarkers can occur immediately following thecollection of blood or body fluid as a result of endogenous or exogenousproteinases.

The concentration of proteins and peptides comprising the complexcirculatory proteome ranges from 10-12 mg/mL to 10-3 mg/mL, spanning tenorders of magnitude, with a few high molecular weight proteins such asalbumin and immunoglobulins accounting for 90% of total protein content(Anderson and Anderson, Mol Cell Proteomics 2002, 1, (11), 845-67).However, the low abundance and low molecular weight proteins andmetabolites also present in the blood provide a wealth of informationand have great promise as a source of new biomarkers. Conventionalmethods, such as two dimensional gel electrophoresis, do not have thesensitivity and resolution to detect and quantify low abundance lowmolecular weight proteins and metabolites. Also, in spite of themoderately high sensitivity of modem mass spectrometers (attomolarconcentration), their working range spans over three-four orders ofmagnitude and therefore the less abundant proteins are masked by moreabundant proteins. Consequently, the usual sample preparation steps formass spectrometry (MS) experiments begin with depletion of high abundantproteins using commercially available immunoaffinity depletion columns(Agilent, Sigma, and Beckman-Coulter). After depletion, fractionation isperformed by means of size exclusion chromatography, ion exchangechromatography, and/or isoelectric focusing. However, removal ofabundant native high molecular weight proteins can significantly reducethe yield of candidate biomarkers because it has been recently shownthat the vast majority of low abundance biomarkers are non-covalentlyand endogenously associated with the carrier proteins that are beingremoved (Lopez et al., Clinical chemistry 2007, 53, (6), 1067-74;Conrads et al., BioTechniques 2006, 40, (6), 799-805; Lowenthal et al.,Clin Chem 2005, 51, (10), 1933-45; Lopez et al., Clinical chemistry2005, 51, (10), 1946-54). Methods, such as size exclusionultrafiltration under denaturing conditions (Zolotarjova et al.,Proteomics 2005, 5, (13), 3304-13), continuous elution denaturingelectrophoresis (Camerini et al., Proteomics Clin. Appl. 2007, 1,176-184), or fractionation of serum by means of nanoporous substrates(Geho et al., Bioconjug Chem 2006, 17, (3), 654-61) have been proposedto solve this problem. Moreover, these same recent findings point to thelow molecular weight region of the proteome, as a rich and untappedsource of biomarker candidates (Tirumalai et al., Molecular & cellularproteomics 2003, 2, (10), 1096-103; Merrell et al., J of biomoleculartechniques 2004, 15, (4), 238-48; Orvisky et al., Proteomics 2006, 6,(9), 2895-902).

In addition to the difficulties associated with the harvest andenrichment of candidate biomarkers from complex natural protein mixtures(such as blood), the stability of these potential biomarkers poses achallenge. Immediately following blood procurement (e.g. byvenipuncture) proteins in the serum become susceptible to degradation byendogenous proteases or exogenous environmental proteases, such asproteases associated with the blood clotting process, enzymes shed fromblood cells, or associated with bacterial contaminants. Therefore,candidate diagnostic biomarkers in the blood may be subjected todegradation during transportation and storage. This becomes an even moreimportant issue for the fidelity of biomarkers within large repositoriesof serum and body fluids that are collected from a variety ofinstitutions and locations where samples may be shipped withoutfreezing.

As such, there is a need in the art for particles that allow enrichmentand encapsulation of selected classes of proteins and peptides fromcomplex mixtures of biomolecules such as plasma, and protect them fromdegradation during subsequent sample handling. The captured analytescould then be readily extracted from the particles by electrophoresisallowing for subsequent quantitative analysis. Particles of this typewould provide a powerful tool that is uniquely suited for the discoveryof novel biomarkers for early stage diseases such as cancer.

Use of harvesting nanoparticles as created in a laboratory by theinventors of the present

invention also has been shown to capture, protect from degradation, andamplify the concentration of low abundance biomarkers in the urine.Human growth hormone within urineat low undetectable concentrations was concentrated by particlesequestration to be readilymeasured by a standard clinical grade immunoassay. For the first timethis labile and low abundance biomarker can now be routinely screened inthe urine. Physiologic salt and ureaconcentration does not affect the function of the particlesequestration. The captured biomarkeris preserved and stable at room temperature or at 37 C. This finding isapplicable to any desiredbiomarker that can be captured by the particles and uniquely solves aneed, particularly in the area of “doping.”

GH levels measurement is a key tool, in clinics, for diagnosis ofdisorders in its secretion, either childhood and adulthood insufficiencyor overproduction. In the last few years hGH levels detection has becomeimportant as a doping control measure. Despite there being a lack ofscientific evidence demonstrating that hGH at superphysiological dosesexerts performance enhancing effects, anecdotal evidence suggest itswide abuse (alone or in combination with other anabolic or oxygentransport increasing substances) among bodybuilders and enduranceathletes. The measurement of GH in blood or urine is a considerablechallenge both because of the hormone biology and technologicallimitations. The several factors that influence its secretion and thevery short half life of hGH lead to high fluctuating levels in the bloodand interindividuallintraindividual variability, making hard to defineprecise cut-off levels to discriminate between physiological raise andwhat can be from external administration. In particular physicalactivity itself leads to hGH increase in serum. Depending on time andintensity of exercises, levels can increase by 5-10 folds. Moreover theaminoacid sequence of the recombinant (rhGH) form is identical to themajor 22 KDa pituitary isoform, making it impossible to discriminatebetween the recombinant and the natural isoform. At present two mainmethods (both using immunologic assays) have been developed to detect GHDOPING using blood samples: the DIRECT and INDIRECT approaches. Thedirect approach, also known as the “isoform differential immunoassay”,exploits the differences in the proportions of hGH isoforms underphysiological conditions and following doping practice.

Actually the assumption of rhGH leads to an increase of the 22 KDaisoform and significant decrease of the endogenous pituitary-derived non22 KDa isoform by negative feedback mechanism. This test was firstintroduced at the Olympic Games in Athens 2004 and Turin 2006. Thecritical limitation of this assay is the time window of detection,claimed to be between 24 and 36 hours after the last injection,depending on dosage. (3; 2)

The indirect approach (“marker method”) is based on measurement of hGHdependent factors that could serve as farmacodynamics markers of itsactivity (IGF-I, IGFBP-3, Procollagen-III-Terminal Peptide, Osteocalcin,Bone Alkaline Phosphatase and Leptine). (5) Such markers show a longerhalf life and less variability than GH itself and their measurementcould lead, by use of discriminatory mathematical formulas to theidentification of rhGH administration. Unfortunately slight butsignificant changes after acute exercise and interindividual variabilitymake the use of indirect measurement impossible in forensic setting.

Although in the past few years GH measurement techniques haveconsiderably improved in sensitivity, speed, convenience and throughput,still require a full validation. The need for new analytical techniquesto fight against doping is far from being fulfilled.

A good anti-doping assay should consider the biological behavior of hGH,be sensitive, with a high degree of accuracy and reproducibility, butalso practical and not expensive.

Because of its convenient availability and relatively unlimited volume,an anti-doping test on urine samples could be an attractive alternative.Many efforts have been made to detect hGH in urine, both for clinicaland anti doping purpose and different immunologic assay have beenapplied (NordiTest U-hGH assay, Nichols institute Chemoluminescence hGHImmunoassay) (7; 8), but the very low concentration of the hormone insuch biologic fluid (between 100 and 1000 time less than in blood—in lownanogram/liter range) and the poor discriminatory capacity of urinaryhGH measurement, have so far limited its applications. The presentinvention offers a novel nanotechnology based on Nanoparticles toconcentrate and preserve hGH in Urine so that hGH can be measured withclinical routinely used immunometric assay (IMMULITE-Siemens MedicalSolution Diagnostic) for clinical quantitative measurement of hGH inserum.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide capture particlesfor biomarker harvesting. The capture particles are made up of materialsthat allow for the sequestering of biomarkers to extract them frommixtures and to protect them from degradation. In one embodiment of thepresent invention, the capture particles have the ability tospecifically capture molecular species having a defined molecular size,mass, and or affinity characteristic and are used to isolate moleculesof interest from a sample typically containing a plurality of differentmolecular species. The capture particles are added to the sample andthen utilized to capture the molecular species of interest.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide smarthydrogel particles for biomarker harvesting. The smart hydrogelparticles of the present invention may have a porosity and overall sizethat can be changed by changing the environment surrounding the smarthydrogel particles. The smart hydrogel particles may have a porositythat allows for biomarkers to enter the hydrogel under certainconditions, after which, the conditions surrounding the smart hydrogelparticle may change so that the biomarkers are sequestered inside of thesmart hydrogel particle.

It is a still further object of the present invention to provide captureparticles for biomarker harvesting that have an attractant capable ofattracting and interacting with a biomarker. It should be noted that theterm attractant is hereinafter synonymous with the term bait andaffinity monomer. Also, the term mixture is synonymous with the termsolution. In certain embodiments, the attractant will be present insideof the capture particle. In other embodiments, the attractant is part ofthe material that makes up the capture particle itself.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide captureparticles for biomarker harvesting having one or more of the followingcharacteristics: a) an ability to select the size and/or mass of themolecule to be captured, b) an ability to select the affinity propertiesof the molecule to be captured, and/or c) an ability to capture and/orrelease the desired molecule in response to a physical or chemicaltreatment.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide captureparticles for biomarker harvesting that can be easily isolated andseparated from mixtures after sequestering of biomarkers is complete. Incertain embodiments of the present invention, the capture particles mayhave characteristics or modifications that allow for them to beseparated from mixtures through the application of physical force,electric or magnetic fields, or by the attraction of a moiety on theparticle to target.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide kits foridentifying an analyte present in a mixture or solution. The kits of thepresent invention have some type of collecting device which is typicallyfilled or coated with the capture particles. A solution or other mixturecontaining the analyte can then be applied to the collecting device,allowing the capture particles to sequester and isolate the desiredanalyte for analysis.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a microfluidics system for analysis of analytes captured from a solution. Themicro fluidic system will have capture particles of the presentinvention. The sample containing the analyte to be analyzed isintroduced into the micro fluidics system, where the capture particlessequester the analyte. The capture particles are then transferred to aseparate location where the analyte is released and analyzed usingmethods known in the art.

The GH is secreted in a pulsatile pattern under hypothalamic control,mediated by the stimulating Gh releasing Hormon (GHRH) and thehinibiting hormone somatostatin (2, 3). Its secretion is influenced byseveral physiological and pathopysiological conditions such as gender,age, sleep, fever, physical exercise, nutritional state and othermetabolic factors. As a result GH levels in blood fluctuate widely. Inhumans GH levels reach 50-100 ug/l at peak and fall below 0.03 ug/l atnadir. (6) Secretion is slightly higher in women than in men, with thehighest levels observed at puberty. Mean levels decrease with age byaround 14% per decade.

Blood contains a complex combination of GH multiple isoforms: a major22-KDa form—the most bioactive—and minor isoforms deriving fromalternative m-RNA splicing or proteolitic clivage of the mature protein(20 KDa isoform, modified hGH, acidic hGH, fragmented hGH). hGH alsoexists in circulating homodimers and heterodimers and approximately 45%of circulating GH is complexed with hGHBPs (GH Binding Proteins). Theunbound 22 KDa hGH has a blood half life of 10-20 min, while theproportion bound to hGH-binding proteins has a significantly longer halflife (1; 4)

The principal metabolic clearance of GH proceeds through glomerularfiltration, reabsorption and degradation in proximal tubular cells.Being such a degradation very efficient, only a very minute amount offiltrated hGH reaches the final urine(<0.01%). (6)

Binding specific membrane receptors ubiquitously expressed, hGH affectsprotein, fat, carbohydrate and mineral metabolism. It has both directand indirect effects, the letter being mediated by IGF-I, which isgenerated in the liver in response to hGH. It enhances anabolism inmusculoskeletal system, increasing glucose and aminoacid uptake, whilein adipose tissue stimulates lypolisis. In general exerts positiveeffects on body composition, tissue repairing process and performance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1. Chemical composition of particles. Structure of (A)N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) and its polymer, (B)methylenebisacrylamide and (C) NIPAm and acrylic acid and theirpolymers.

FIG. 2. Particle characterization. (A) Light scattering measurement ofNIPAm particle size as a function of temperature (diameter decreases astemperature increases). (B) Plots of correlation of the size ofNIPAm/AAc particles with temperature (diameter decreases as temperatureincreases) and pH (diameter decreases as pH decreases). AFM images of(C) NIPAm particles and (D) NIPAm/AAc particles on mica.

FIG. 3. Schematic drawing of molecular sieving of particles in solution.Low molecular weight proteins are harvested; high molecular weightproteins are excluded.

FIG. 4. Flow cytometry analyses of FITC-incubated particles. (A) Uptakeis dose dependent. (B) Uptake rapidly reaches saturation with a FITCconcentration of 20 μM. NIP Am particles were also incubated withFITC-labeled bovine serum albumin (BSA), MW 66,000 Da, with adye:molecule ratio of 1:1 (FITC-BSA, Sigma), FITC labeled insulin MW3,500 Da, with a dye:molecule ratio of 1:7 (Invitrogen), or FITC labeledmyoglobin MW 17,000 Da, with a dye:molecule ratio of 1.36. Myoglobin(Sigma) was FITC labeled by means of the HOOK-Dye Labeling Kit (GBioscience) in accordance of the vendor's instructions. Concentrationsof all fluorescent species were adjusted in order to equalize thefluorescence signal.

FIG. 5. NIPAm particles incubated with FITC and FITC-labeled proteins:Flow cytometry measurements of (A) BSA and insulin, (B) myoglobin andfree FITC. (C) SDS-PAGE of particles incubated with insulin: Lane 1)insulin solution (Control), 2) NIPAm supernatant (Out, substanceexcluded from the particles), 3) wash 1, 4) wash 2, 5) NIPAm particles(m, substance captured by the particles). (D) SDS-PAGE of NIP Amparticles incubated with BSA and myoglobin: 1) BSA and myoglobin(Control), 2) NIPAm supernatant (Out), 3) wash 2, 4) NIPAm particles(In). BSA is totally excluded.

FIG. 6. Schematic depiction of affinity-based sequestering.

FIG. 7. Protein sequestering by NIPAm/AAc particles (+bait) versus NIPAmparticles (−bait), SDS-PAGE analysis of (A) Myoglobin (aqueous solution,pH 5.5) sequestration by particles+ and −bait. Lane 1) myoglobin, 2)NIPAm supernatant (Out), 3) NIPAm particle (In), 4) NIPAm/AAcsupernatant (Out), 5) NIPAm/AAc particle (In), 6) NIPAm/AAc particles1:64, 7) NIPAm/AAc particles 1:32, 8) NIPAm/AAc particles 1:128, and 9)NIPAm/AAc particles 1:256. (B) BSA and myoglobin sequestration byparticles+bait (NIPAm/AAc) at two pH values. Lane 1) BSA and myoglobin,pH 5.5, 2) NIPAm/AAc supernatant (Out) pH 5.5, 3) wash 3 pH 5.5, 4)NIPAm/AAc particles (In) pH 5.5, 5) wash 2 pH 5.5, 6) wash 1 pH 5.5, 7)BSA and myoglobin, pH 8, 8) NIPAm/AAc supernatant (Out) pH 8, and 9)NIPAm/AAc particles (In) pH 8.

FIG. 8. (A) SDS-PAGE analysis of particles- and +bait incubated with BSAand lysozyme: Lane 1) BSA and lysozyme solution prior to particleintroduction, 2) NIP Am (−bait) supernatant (Out), 3) wash 3, 4) NIPAm(−bait) particles (In), 5) wash 2, 6) wash 1, 7) NIPAm/AAc (+bait)supernatant (Out), 8) wash 3, and 9) NIPAm/AAc (+bait) particles (In).(B) SDS-PAGE analysis of NIPAm/AAc particles (+bait) incubated withmolecular weight (MW) markers: 1) MW markers, 2) NIPAm/AAc supernatant(Out), and 3) NIPAm/AAc particles (In).

FIG. 9. SDS PAGE analysis of particles+bait incubated with PDGF BandBSA. Lane 1) BSA and PDGF B, 2) NIPAm/AAc supernatant (Out), 3)NIPAm/AAc particles (In).

FIG. 10. Flow cytometry analysis of (A) NIPAm and (B) NIPAm/AAcparticles incubated with FITe-labeled insulin aqueous solution andFITe-labeled insulin spiked in serum, respectively.

FIG. 11. Flow cytometry time course studies of (A) NIP Am and (B)NIPAm/AAc particles incubated with FITe-labeled insulin.

FIG. 12. Uptake time course study (A) Mean values of the percentage,relative to the initial amount, of lysozyme in solution incubated withtwo quantities of NIPAm/AAc particles as measured by RPPAs (threereplicate analyses and standard deviation shown). (B) SDS-PAGE analysisof a lysozyme and BSA solution incubated with NIPAm/AAc particles.Lane 1) BSA and lysozyme solution. 2-11) alternating supernatant (Out)and particles (In) for each of 5, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes incubationtimes. Lysozyme uptake is rapid and complete, while BSA exclusion istotal.

FIG. 13. Schematic drawing illustrating the ability of particles toprotect proteins from enzymatic degradation.

FIG. 14. NIPAm/AAc particles (+bait) protect bound proteins fromdegradation by enzymes that may be present. (A) NIPAm/AAc particlesincubated with a solution containing lysozyme and trypsin for 1 hr:Lane 1) lysozyme, 2) lysozyme incubated with trypsin, 3) NIPAm/AAcsupernatant (Out), 4) NIPAm/AAc particles (In), 5) BSA and lysozyme, 6)BSA and lysozyme+protease, 7) NIPAm/AAc particles supernatant (Out), and8) NIPAm/AAc particles (In). (B) NIPAm/AAc particles incubated overnightwith BSA, lysozyme, and trypsin: Lane 1) lysozyme, 2) trypsin, 3)lysozyme+trypsin, 4) NIPAm/AAc supernatant (Out), 5) NIPAm/AAc particles(In), 6) lysozyme and BSA, 7) BSA and lysozyme+protease, 8) NIPAm/AAcsupernatant (Out), and 9) NIPAm/AAc particles (In).

FIG. 15. SDS PAGE analysis of reduced and alkylated lysozyme exposed totryptic digestion and incubated with particles+bait and −bait. (A)Reduced and alkylated lysozyme+trypsin incubated with NIPAm/AAcparticles: Lane 1) lysozyme, 2) reduced and alkylated lysozyme,3)+trypsin, 4) NIPAm/AAc supernatant (Out), 5) NIPAm/AAc particles (In).(B) Reduced and alkylated lysozyme incubated with NIPAm particles:lane 1) NIPAm particles supernatant (Out), 2) NIPAm particles (In),3)+trypsin NIP Am supernatant (Out), 4)+trypsin NIPAm particles (In),5)+trypsin, 6) BSA+ reduced and alkylated protein solution incubatedwith NIP Am particles, supernatant (Out), 7) NIPAm particles (In).

FIG. 16. Core shell particles have the same molecular weight sieving asNIPAm/AAc particles. Control protein solution was incubated withNIPAm/AAcand core shell particles. Lane 1) control protein solution, 2)NIPAm/AAc particles supernatant (Out), 3) NIPAm/AAc particles (In), 4)core shell particles supernatant (Out), 5) core shell particles (In).

FIG. 17. Core shell particles protect lysozyme form chymotrypsinproteolysis. Lane 1) lysozyme, 2) chymotrypsin, 3)lysozyme+chymotrypsin, 4) lysozyme+chymotrypsin incubated with coreshell particles, supernatant (Out), 5) lysozyme+chymotrypsin incubatedwith core shell particles, particles (In), 6) lysozyme+BSA+chymotrypsin,7) lysozyme+BSA+chymotrypsin incubated with core shell particles,supernatant, 8) lysozyme+BSA+chymotrypsin incubated with core shellparticles, particles (In), 9) lysozyme+BSA.

FIG. 18 shows results from SDS-PAGE analysis which showed that particlesloaded with Cibacron Blue dye were the only batch of particles capableof harvesting proteins from solution.

FIG. 19, displays results of SDS PAGE analysis which showed thatparticles captured hGH in solution and that the uptake was dependent onthe percentage of loaded dye

FIG. 20 a and FIG. 20 b. Showing bands where, in the optimal conditions,particles were capable to raise hGH concentration from a not detectablelevel (lane 2) to a clearly visible band (lane 4, 6, 8, 18, 20).

FIG. 21 shows the same experiment as FIG. 20 a and FIG. 20 b, but withvaried pH levels (4, 5, 6.7, 8) with synthetic urine (SURINE, Dyna-TekIndustries) which is routinely used as negative control for differenturine tests, obtaining sequestration of hGH at each pH point andassessing pH 5 as the optimal uptake condition.

FIG. 22 showing partial elution at all PH, with higher yield at morebasic conditions.

FIG. 23 displays that entire elution was obtained by using Acetonitrile60%/NH40H 4% buffer and almost entire elution was obtained withAcetonitrile 50%/NH4C03 50 mM

FIG. 24 shows that previously undetectable levels of hGH were recoveredfrom the particles and successfully quantified by Immulite at theconcentration of 83 pg/ml.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides capture particles for harvestingbiomarkers as wells as methods for using those particles. The captureparticles of the present invention are capable of selectively selectingspecific biomarkers from a mixture, after which the capture particlesare removed from the mixture and the biomarkers are released from thecapture particles.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the capture particles have oneor more of the following characteristics: a) an ability to select thesize and/or mass of the molecule to be captured, b) an ability to selectthe affinity properties of the molecule to be captured, and/or c) anability to capture and/or release the desired molecule in response to aphysical or chemical treatment. The particles of the present inventionmay accomplish this task in microvolumes, eliminating the need for theconventional multi-step procedures requiring, e.g., affinity columns,reverse phase columns and molecular sieve steps. The characteristics ofthe capture particles depend on the materials used to construct thecapture particles. Examples of certain types of capture particles madefrom certain materials are set forth herein, however, it will be obviousto one of skill in the art that there are other combinations andvariations of capture particles not explicitly set forth in thisspecification that have characteristics which can be determined from theway they are constructed and which fall within the scope of the claimsset forth below.

Throughout this description, the harvesting of biomarkers or otheranalytes will be described. The capture particles and methods of thepresent invention can be adapted to harvest any type of molecule orcompound of interest, both biomarkers produced by a living source orother analytes. It certain embodiments of the invention, the analyte tobe harvested may be a metabolite, protein, RNA, micro RNA, DNAglycoprotein, lipid, glycolipid, proteolipid, hormone, cytokine, growthfactor, biomarker, drug compound, synthetic organic compound, volatileodorant, toxicant or pollutant. It should be apparent to one of skill inthe art that the present invention is not limited in any way to theharvesting of specific types of molecules and that molecules from anysource present in any type of mixture may be harvested using thecompositions and methods of the invention.

In certain embodiments, the capture particles of the present inventioncan be comprised of a molecular sieve material. By this, it is meantthat the material is porous, lattice-like, honeycombed, or has otherproperties that permit analytes of a defined molecular mass or weight toenter. The size of the sieve pore is a determinant of whether theanalyte can penetrate the capture particle. The particle, itself, can beof any suitable size, e.g., 1 nm or less; from about 1 nm-100 μm; fromabout 5 nm-50 μm; from about 10 nm-20 μm; from about 10 nm-10 μm;including any and all values in between. The particles of the presentinvention may have any suitable shape, including, but not limited to,spheres, tubes, branched structures, polyhedrons and micro-fluidicvalves.

The sieve materials used in constructing the capture particles of thepresent invention may be designed so as to allow only analytes of acertain size to enter the capture particles. The size cutoff of thecapture particles will be dependent on the manner in which the particlesare to be used. The cutoff size, as used herein, is meant to describethe approximate size of an analyte which is able to enter the captureparticle. For example, molecular weight (MW) cutoff size of 50 kDa meansthat molecules of approximately 50 kDa or less in size will be able toenter the capture particles, while molecules of approximately more than50 KDa will be excluded from the particles. In certain embodiments, theparticles may have a MW cutoff size of from about 5 kDa to about 100kDa, although particles having other MW cutoff sizes outside of thisrange are also contemplated. As described herein, the capture particlesof the present invention may be made of “smart” materials capable ofchanging size in response to stimuli. In such cases, the MW cutoff sizeof the particle may change as the size of the particles changes, e.g. aparticle may have a specific MW cutoff size under certain conditions anda different MW cutoff size under other conditions.

A feature of the capture particles of the present invention is theirability to “trap” or sequester an analyte once it has entered theparticle. Trapping is achieved by using sieve materials which arecapable of contracting and/or expanding in response to a physical orchemical treatment for making the particles. For example, materials canbe utilized which, when subjected to a chemical or physical treatment,contract or shrink, thereby trapping the analyte inside. Such materialsmay be referred to as “smart materials” which have the ability to changeshape or size by subject to a physical or chemical treatment.

Any material having these properties can be utilized without restrictionto make the capture particles of the present invention. In certainembodiments, these materials are polymers made of: acrylamide andderivatives thereof, N-isopropylacrylamide (e.g., Jones and Lyon,Macromolecules, 36:1988-1993, 2003; Jones and Lyon, Macromolecules,33:8310-8306, 2000) and other N-alkyl substituted acrylamides;N,N-methylenebisacrylamide, N,N-cystaminebisacrylamide,N-vinylalkylamides, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, allylamine, styrene,benzyl glutamate, 2-ethylacrylic acid, 4-vinylpyridine, silicone,hydroxyethyl methacrylate, ethylene oxide, butylenes terephthalate,2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid, vinylpyrrolidone, andethylene-vinyl acetate. In other embodiments of the present invention,the capture particles may be made of biodegradable polymers made up oflac tide, glycolide, caprolactone, and hydroxyalkanoate. In still otherembodiments of the present invention, the polymers may be made up ofchitosan, hyaluronic acid, starch, cellulose and agarose. The polymersused to make the capture particles of the present invention mayor maynot be made up of crosslinkable units. In the case of crosslinkablepolymers, the crosslinks may be formed either permanently or reversibly.The polymers contemplated by the present invention may be polymershaving a single repeating unit or may be co-polymers having two or moremonomer units which are included in the polymer.

Other examples of materials used may be ferroelectric liquid crystallineelastomers; piezoelectric polymers; “smart” hydro gels, gels, ceramics,alloys, and polymers, etc. Other examples of suitable materials may befound in Galaev et al., Pages 835-849; Zentel; Pages 850-860; Harrisonand Ounaies, Pages 860-873; in Encyclopedia of Small Materials, Volumes1-2, Edited by, Schwartz, Mel© 2002 John Wiley & Sons. Examples of othermaterials suitable as sieving materials are woven or cross-linkednanowires, carbon nanotubes, metal colloids, clatherins, collagen,modified polysaccharides, silicon, silica, linked peptides comprised ofamino acids, polymers composed of nucleic acids (see, e.g. Chittimallaet al., J Am. Chern. Soc., 2005, 127 (32), 11436-41), amino acidpolymers, lipids (see, e.g. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, LipidNanoparticles: Recent Advances, 2007, 59 (6), 375-530), self-assembledviruses, and self-assembled proteins. The capture particles can beprepared routinely by methods known in the art or as described in any ofthe above-mentioned references.

Physical and/or chemical treatments that may be utilized to contractand/or expand the sieve material include thermal, electrical, magnetic,ultrasound, pressure, radiant, laser, osmotic, pH, salt, enzymatic,oxidation/reduction, dehydration/rehydration, ultraviolet, radiation,high intensity red light, and similar treatments as are known in theart.

The sieve material can reversibly or non-reversibly contract or shrink.For example, the capture particles can be placed in a mixture where theanalytes are permitted to penetrate, and then non-reversibly shrunk tocapture the analyte. This could be useful where the objective is toremove a contaminant from a solution, and it is not necessary to analyzeor further evaluate the nature of the captured analyte, thus notrequiring it to be expanded. Alternatively, non-reversible captureparticles can be broken apart by sonication or other disruptive forceswhich destroy the integrity of the particle.

The capture particles can further comprise an attractant capable ofattracting and interacting with a biomarker. The attractants of thepresent invention may be any substance which is capable of specificallyinteracting with an analyte of interest. In certain embodiments, theattractant is an affinity ligand and may be: antibodies and derivativesthereof (e.g., Fab fragments and single-chain antibodies); bindingproteins and peptides (e.g., receptors or fragments thereof for specificligands and polyhistidine peptides), including modified proteins;binding pairs (such as streptavidin/biotin); substrates; metals;chelating agents; nucleic acids; aptamers; enzyme-binding pockets;lectins; calixarenes for the uptake of small molecules; metals or metalsalts (e.g. Fe for heme groups, TiO2 for phosphorylated peptides andproteins); affinity dyes; pharmaceutically active compounds; peptidesand fullerenes, lipophilic compounds, aromatic compounds and/or anaffinity group that is specific for an analyte of interest. The captureparticles may also be formed using molecular imprinting techniques, asare well known in the art. In these embodiments of the presentinvention, the capture particles may be imprinted to bind specificmolecules or families of molecules

In certain other embodiments of the invention, the attractant may be achemical moiety capable of interacting chemically or electrostaticallywith the analyte. In these embodiments of the invention, the attractantmay include a carboxyl group, amine group, lipid, phosphate group, amidegroup, hydroxyl group, ester group, acrylic group, thiol group, acrylicacid, hydrophobic surface, hydrophilic surface or any other moietycapable of interacting chemically or electrostatically with the analyte.

The attractants can be associated with the capture particle in anysuitable way. For example, they can be used as a nucleus or core aroundwhich the sieve material is overlayed or deposited/nucleated in order toform the capture particle; they can be directly incorporated into thesieve material prior to forming the particle (i.e., where the attractantis a component of the sieve material); they can be conventionallycoupled (covalently or noncovalently) to the pore surfaces of the sievematerial; etc. The attractants can also be loaded into the captureparticle by expanding the sieve material through appropriate physical orchemical treatment to reach a porosity that is large enough to admit theligand, and then contacting the sieve material with the attractant underconditions effective for it to enter the particle. Once the particle isloaded with the attractant, it can be shrunk by appropriate physical orchemical treatment, thereby reducing the sieve material's porosity, suchthat target analytes are still able to penetrate the particle, butlarger analytes are excluded. The sieve porosity can be reduced afterthe attractant loading step to pore size which is small enough to blockthe affinity ligand from diffusing out, making it unnecessary to linkthe attractant to the sieve material. However, if desired, couplingprocesses can be used to link the attractant to the sieve material.

Capture particles baited with affinity ligands provide an analyteselection step, in addition to selection for analyte size or mass. Forexample, a capture particle can be expanded to allow analytes topenetrate into it, and then the analytes can be further selected bytheir ability to specifically bind to an affinity ligand associated withthe capture particle. After the binding step is achieved (e.g., afterequilibrium is reached), the particles can be separated and subjected towashing steps to remove unbound non-target analytes, and then optionallyshrunk by a chemical or physical treatment.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the attractant is a componentof a sieve material. For example, the sieve material may be a co-polymerhaving monomeric units that have an electrostatic charge. In certainembodiments, the co-polymer is made up of uncharged structural monomerunits and affinity monomer units, so that the sieve material itself iscapable of attracting an analyte to be captured. In certain embodiments,the affinity monomer units may be positively or negatively charged sothat the sieve material has an overall electrostatic charge. In theseembodiments, is also contemplated that the charged monomeric units maybe such so that their charge can be changed by changing the environmentof the sieve material, e.g. changing the pH or temperature of the mediasurrounding the capture particles. In these embodiments, the captureparticles provide both size and affinity selection of analytes.

In certain embodiments where the sieve material is a charged co-polymer,the charged monomeric units may have moieties that allow them to becharged under certain conditions. For example, negatively chargedmonomers may have carboxylic acid groups, hydroxyl groups, thiol groups,phosphate groups or other groups capable of carrying a negative charge.In certain embodiments of the invention, the negatively charged monomeris acrylic acid or another monomer with a carboxylic acid group.Positively charged monomers may have amine, amide groups or other groupscapable of carrying a positive charge. In certain embodiments of theinvention, the positively charged monomers are allylamine or chitosan.

In other embodiments of the invention where the sieve material is aco-polymer, affinity monomer units may be integrated into the sievematerial that allow for attraction of various type of analytes. Forexample, co-polymers may be integrated with monomers having: affinitydyes having affinity for proteins and peptides; boronic acid groupshaving affinity for carbohydrates, nucleic acids and glycopeptides orglycoproteins; cyclodextrins having affinity for small molecules;calixarenes having affinity for small molecules; porphyrin groups havingaffinity for metal ions; and aliphatic groups having affinity forlipids.

In certain embodiments of the present invention the sieve material is anN-isoproylacrylamide (NIPAm), acrylic acid (AAc) copolymer whose pendantcarboxylic acid (C02H) groups are functionalized with a wide range ofamino or alcohol terminated molecules. These molecules can includealkanes, other greasy moieties to capture the lipid content of thesolution, or dyes. In certain other embodiments of the presentinvention, the particles have a core made of a NIP Am AAc co-polymerthat is surrounded by a shell polymer layer made up of only NIP Am.

The capture particles may also further comprise detectable labels.Detectable labels may be any moiety or substance that can be detected byany means. These include quantum dots, fluorescent labels, enzymes,magnetic particles, etc. The detectable label can be associated with anyregion of the capture particle, including its pores and exteriorsurface.

Detectable labels are useful in a number of ways, including for sortingdifferent classes of capture particles. For example, different classesof capture particles can be produced, where each class possesses adifferent characteristic (e.g., a different pore size and/or a differentattractant), and each carries a different detectable label associatedwith each class of particles. This enables the property of the particleclass (e.g., able to bind to a specific attractant) to be identified bydetermining which detectable label it bears. For instance, a particlewith a single chain antibody for PSA can be labeled with FITC, and aparticle containing an antibody for a-Methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR)can be labeled with TRITC. After performing the entrapment step, theparticles can be sorted by flow cytometry using fluorescent-activatedcell sorting, separating the PSA-containing particles from theAMACR-containing particles. In other embodiments, the capture particlescan be functionalized with lipophilic carbocyanine dyes and then theirlipid content can be separated using thin layer chromatography.

Capture particles can be moved in solution or other media by theapplication of electrical fields, magnetic fields, through the use oflaser tweezers, or by their affinity with solvent. If the captureparticles have an overall electric charge, they may be moved byapplication of an electric field. This may be especially applicable whenthe sieve material has been modified so as to have an electrostaticcharge. For example, an electric field can be applied across a mediumcontaining negatively charged capture particles, and the captureparticles would move towards the positive electrode of the deviceapplying the electrical field.

The capture particles may also be modified to have magnetic moietiesthat are attracted to a magnet. In certain embodiments of the presentinvention, this may be done by forming the sieve material around amagnetic core, such as a Fe304 core. In other embodiments, the surfaceof the capture particles may be fully or partially coated with magneticnanoparticles (see, e.g. Wong et al., J Magnetism and MagneticMaterials, 2007, 311 (1), 219-23). It is further contemplated thatco-polymers may be formed having magnetic elements directly incorporatedinto the polymers.

It is also contemplated that the capture particles may be modified tohave surface markers that can be easily bound by specific targets, e.g.the particles may have biotin, glutathione-S-transferase or 6-histidinetags that can be bound by streptavidin, glutathione, and nickelsubstrates respectively. The particles can also be formed usingreversible crosslinkers such as those formed from disulfide bonds thatcan be reversed by DTT. In these embodiments of the invention, asolution containing capture particles may be mixed with beads having asuitable substrate, for example, biotin labeled particles may be mixedwith streptavidin labeled beads. After being allowed to bind to oneanother, the beads could be removed from the solution usingcentrifugation or other techniques known in the art, bringing thecapture particles with them.

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to solution-phase captureparticles and methods of using them to isolate analytes from a samplehaving one or more of the following steps, e.g., contacting a samplecomprising analytes with solution-phase capture particles underconditions effective for the capture particles to reversibly andselectively trap analytes of a defined molecular mass or particle size,where the capture particles are made with a molecular sieve materialwhich is capable of reversibly trapping and releasing an analyte of adefined particle size or molecular mass.

The capture particles of the present invention may allow for theprotection of analytes from degradation by proteases and other factors.The capture particles may do this by excluding the proteases from theparticle by the size cut-off and/or the affinity characteristics of theparticle. The capture particles may also prevent proteases fromdegrading analytes because the analytes and proteases are so tightlybound as to prevent the steric alignment necessary for the protease tocleave the analyte. In these cases, even though the protease is capableof entering the capture particle, the analyte remains intact.

The capture particles of the present invention may also be used forconcentrating low abundance analytes from a fluid. If an analyte ispresent in a fluid at a low concentration, the capture particles of thepresent invention may be used to harvest the analyte from the originalfluid. After the analyte is harvested, it may then be released into asecond fluid having a smaller volume. In this way, analytes havingconcentrations below the limits of detection of various analyticalmethods in their original fluids may be concentrated so that they have aconcentration that can easily be detected and analyzed.

In certain embodiments of the present invention, the capture particlesdescribed may be part of kits which may be used for isolating and/oridentifying an analyte. The kits may have any type of collection devicefor collecting the solution or other type of mixture containing theanalyte. In some embodiments, the collection device is a container, suchas a vacu-tainer, tube, cartridge or micro fluidic device. It iscontemplated that the capture particles may be present in the container,or, alternatively, a layer of capture particles may be formed on thecontainer. In other embodiments, the collecting devices are sheets offabric or polymeric material capable of containing a layer of captureparticles. In these embodiments, the capture particle may be formed intoa type of patch, which may be applied to a surface from which an analyteof interest is to be isolated or over which an analyte of interestpasses. In one embodiment, the patch may be a patch that can be appliedto the skin, allowing analytes to be isolated from the surface of theskin.

Also contemplated by the present invention is a system where particlescan be continuously moved among different steps. In general:

Step 1: Capture particles are mixed with a sample comprising analytes;

Step 2: Capture particles are separated from solution phase moietiesthat have not been captured; and

Step 3: Analytes are eluted from particles and analyzed.

In these embodiments of the invention, the system is fullyself-contained and automated so that a sample is introduced into thesystem and a result is obtained without requiring any other usermanipulation. Such a system may be contained in a micro fluidic systemor may be a larger, bench-top type system.

In general, a sample is added to a chamber containing capture particlesand the analyte of interest is sequestered. The environmental conditionsof the chamber may then be changed so that the capture particles arereduced in size as described herein, trapping the analytes inside. Thecapture particles can then be moved to a new chamber using the methodsdescribed herein, separating the analytes from the remainder of thesample.

Analysis can then be done using methods known in the art, including massspectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy, solidphase immunoassay (e.g. ELISA and the like) immunoprecipitation,colorometric assay, radiometric assay, fluorescent assay, flow bead/flowcytometry, western blotting, protein sequencing and any chemistryanalytic method for analysis of metabolites, drugs, small molecules orproteins.

Beyond the solution phase capture process, the particles can also beused to coat support surfaces, to impregnate layers and to fill slabs.Other examples include coating a patch with particles held by a mesh,and applying the patch to a patient's skin to capture analytes presenton and in the skin.

Any sample can be utilized without restriction, including biologicalfluids, such as blood, blood components, cerebral spinal fluid, lymph,cellysates, tissue lysates, stool, urine, lymph, ascites, semen, etc.;environment samples, such as soil samples or extracts, ocean, pond, orriver waters; water tower and drinking water samples; samples fromchemical synthetic reactions; food samples; etc. For example, themethods discussed herein can be used to detect contaminants in food,drinking water, and environment samples. Any molecule of interest may beharvested using the present invention, including, organic molecules,inorganic molecules, polypeptides, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, lipids,drugs, antibodies, ligands, lipoproteins. glycoproteins, fatty acids,glycans, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof. Analytes includebiomolecules which are shed from cell surfaces, released from cells(e.g., by exocytosis, lysis, etc.), metabolites, degradation products,protease digestion products, and the like, without limitation. Incertain embodiments of the invention, the methods can be utilized toentrap molecules in a biological fluid of a low molecular weight,especially those that would be excluded from the body by normalglomerular (kidney) filtration (e.g., molecules less that 30,000Daltons) which are soluble and free-floating in the fluid or which areassociated with carrier proteins. In general, the present invention canbe used to capture any analyte of interest whose detection is desired.The particles can be used in solution during any chemical reaction toselectively capture reaction products and therefore lower productsconcentration in solution. This can enable the chemical reaction to goto completion or to drive the chemical reaction to completion bysequestering one or more reaction species as they accumulate over time.With respect to body fluids, the capture particles of the presentinvention can also be used to detect exogenous molecules, i.e., is amolecule that was introduced into the body of the subject from whom thesample was obtained. Exogenous molecules can be actively or passivelyintroduced into the subject. Examples of exogenous molecules includemolecules present in, or in the form of, drugs, foods, tobacco,environmental products and contaminants (e.g., pesticides, carbonmonoxide, etc), and essentially any molecule that enters the subjectbody through any route. Exogenous molecules also include theirmetabolites, by-products, and degradation products as processed ortransformed in the body. The particles can also be used as a tool toclear toxins from the blood. The particles can be applied for dialysisof blood by clearing urea or to eliminate cholesterol in excess toprevent heart attacks.

It is also contemplated that different populations of capture particlescan be used at the same time, each having different characteristics withrespect to the molecule species they are able to capture. The differentpopulations can be univocally tagged, e.g. with fluorescent dyes, andcan afterwards be separated, e.g. with flow cytometry. This strategyenables a total extraction and separation of multiple species to beperformed in a single step.

FURTHER EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

Nanoparticle technology for biomarker enrichment and preservation

In order to directly address the challenges of low abundance andpreservation, in certain embodiments, this invention aims to create andevaluate “smart” nanoparticles that harvest (accumulate) selectedclasses of proteins in solution when added to complex mixtures ofproteins such as plasma. The deliverable technology will be novel porousharvesting particles that have a unique structure capable of sortingmolecules in solution based on both size and/or affinity. Moreover, theporosity of the particles may be thermally modifiable such that capturedanalyte (e.g. proteins) can later be released for analysis. In addition,the proteins or chemical entities captured within the particles may beprotected from degradation by enzymes or microbial growth.

This proposed technology can address the need for a means to enrich,isolate, and preserve low-abundance proteins and peptides in blood,urine and tissues. Such low-abundance molecules are expected to containthe most specific information about the state of a small disease lesion.In one embodiment the proposed technology consists of smartnanoparticles that can be pre-dispensed into a collection tube. Once thenanoparticles are suspended within the body fluid, or tissue lysate forexample, the particles automatically (in one step) perform affinitychromatography and/or size exclusion chromatography in solution. Theproteins and other metabolites (candidate biomarkers) captured withinthe smart particles can be therefore bonded and/or sequestered andprotected from substantial degradation. By tuning the pore size andaffinity properties of the smart particle populations, highly specificsubsets of biomarkers can be captured and enriched from the entirevolume of the procured fluid. This will enable room-temperaturepreservation and enrichment of low-molecular weight proteomicbiomarkers. Following transport of the collection tube to the analysislab, the nanoparticles can be easily isolated, so that thebound/sequestered biomarker cargo can be released for characterizationusing any analytical technique. In an alternative method, the biomarkersmay be accessed via destructive treatment of the nanoparticles.

This technology can be of low cost and applicable in the routineclinical setting for seamless collection and immediate preservation ofblood biomarkers. This transcends the large research hospitalenvironment and extends most acutely to the private practice, where mostpatients receive therapy. The fabrication of large quantities of uniform“smart” one-micron-sized nanoparticles is certainly feasible, whileother sizes larger or smaller are also possible and equally applicable.As described below, the particles can capture, accumulate, and purifylabeled subsets of molecules from complex mixtures of molecules, such asserum.

Rationale for Choosing Smart Particles for Biomarker Harvesting

Thermoresponsive polymer gels are commonly referred to as ‘smart gels’and display a controllable, nonlinear response to changes in localsolution temperature, pH or external energy application (Saunders, etal., 1999 Advances in Colloid and Interface Science 80, 1; Pelton, 2000,Advances in Colloid and Interface Science 85, 1). Such polymers arecomprised of crosslinked chains that undergo a thermodynamically favoredphase separation leading to a change in gel volume (Tanaka, et al.,1979, Phys. Rev. Lett. 42, 1556; Tanaka, et al., 1978, Phys. Rev. Lett.40,820). The gels can be synthesized in bulk to take on the shape of thecontainer or may be synthesized into particles ranging in diameter from4 nm-100 μm (Tanaka, et al., 1980, Phys. Rev. Lett. 45, 1636; Tanaka, etal., 1985, Phys. Rev. Lett. 55,2455). In each case, the internalstructure of the material is composed of flexible chains creating asoft, porous structure that can reversibly expand or contract accordingto the local conditions of the solution. An example of a “smart” polymeris poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (pNIPAm), which has a lower criticalsolution temperature (LCST) of 31° C. in water (Jones, 2003, School ofChemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,Ga., p. 193). Below this temperature, the polymer matrix is swollen withsolvent molecules, where hydrogen bonding occurs between the water andamide groups along the polymer backbone (Jones, 2003, School ofChemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,Ga., p. 193). As the temperature is increased above the LCST, hydrogenbonds are broken and water is excluded from the internal matrix, whilehydrophobic interactions begin to dominate between the isopropyl groups,leading to a decrease in overall volume. This technology can be appliedto separating biomarkers for identification.

One aspect of the present invention describes a molecular sieve portionof the capture-particles while another aspect pertains to an analytebinding (bait capture) portion. It is feasible to combine bait capturewith molecular sieving into a single particle. A common means offractionating complex mixtures of proteins is to use two classes ofsequential chromatographic steps based on affinity and molecular sizing(Adkins, et al., 2002, Mol Cell Proteomics 1, 947). Analysis of acomplex and highly concentrated mixture such as plasma usually startswith dilution of the sample and removal of high-abundance proteins suchas albumin prior to chromatography and gel electrophoresis. The smartparticle technology disclosed herein accomplishes both steps of theseparation without the use of chromatography or dilution. Morespecifically, added selectivity is enabled through the addition of baitmolecules into the particle that bind/sequester a restricted populationof biomarkers. Acrylic acid (AAc), for example, can be integrated intothe particle and function as a tunable affinity resin. For example, atlow pH (3.5), the AAc within the particle will be predominatelyprotonated, bearing a positive charge at that pH. At higher pHconditions, the AAc moieties will be either partially or predominatelydeprotonated, which will create an intrinsic, charge based affinityelement for positively charged proteins. By integrating AAc into themicrogel, both the charge properties and the pore size of the particlesprovide a means to doubly fractionate proteins from complex mixtureslike serum.

Another aspect of the invention deals with preservation bysequestration/binding of analytes therefore allowing one to stabilizeanalytes (e.g candidate biomarkers) in solution at room temperature.This can accomplished by their sequestration within the porousnanoparticles. It is hypothesized that proteins or molecules sequesteredwithin the nanoparticles will not be available for access by solutionphase degradative enzymes. Such enzymes may not be able to penetrate thepores of the particle because of their larger size.

Moreover, the affinity capture and immobilization of the candidatebiomarker molecule will hinder the 3-D availability of the biomarkermolecule such that the enzyme substrate complex can not functionallyform within the particle. This concept is somewhat analogous to thestabilization of proteins by precipitation or precipitation fixation.Applying capillary electrophoresis and mass spectrometry sequencing, wecan study the degradation induced by exogenous serine ormetalloproteinases, and compare the rate of fragmentation of proteinssequestered in particles versus those free in solution. Starting withdefined mixtures of known and pre-characterized, or pre labeledproteins, we can progress to protein capture and stabilization withinhuman serum and plasma reference samples.

Capture-Particles

In certain embodiments, the present invention provides a method andcomposition for separating and capturing molecular species from samples.In one embodiment of the invention, smart particles which have theability to specifically capture molecular species having a definedmolecular size, mass, and/or affinity characteristic are used to isolatemolecules of interest from a sample typically containing a plurality ofdifferent molecular species with varying sizes. The particles can beadded to the sample and then utilized to capture the molecular speciesof interest.

The particles can have one or more of the following functionalities: a)an ability to select the size, mass, and/or affinity property of themolecule to be captured, and/or b) an ability to capture and/or releasethe desired molecule in response to a physical or chemical treatment.The particles can accomplish this task in microvolumes, eliminating theneed for the conventional multi-step procedures that utilize affinitycolumns, reverse phase columns, and other standard purification reagentsand devices. Moreover, different classes of capture-particles can beused, each having different characteristics with respect to the moleculespecies they are able to capture, thus enabling a total extractionprofile of multiple species to be performed in a single step.

One aspect of the inventions provides solution-phase capture-particlesand methods of using them in isolating analytes from a sample, saidmethod comprising one or more of the following steps includingcontacting a sample comprising analytes with solution-phasecapture-particles under conditions effective for said capture-particlesto selectively and optionally reversibly, trap analytes of a definedmolecular mass or particle size, wherein said capture-particles comprisea molecular sieve material which is capable of trapping and optionallyreleasing an analyte of a defined particle size or molecular mass. Otheraspects of the present invention, as described in more detail below,also employ specific capture-particles which non-reversibly trapanalytes.

Samples

Any sample can be utilized without restriction, including biologicalfluids, such as blood, blood components, cerebral spinal fluid, lymph,cell lysates, tissue lysates, stool, urine, lymph, ascites, semen,ocular vitreous, etc.; environment samples, such as soil samples orextracts, ocean, pond, or river waters; water tower and drinking watersamples; samples from chemical synthetic reactions; food samples; foodprocessing samples (eg., from poultry processing plants), etc. Forexample, the methods can be used to detect contaminants in food,drinking water, and environment samples.

Analytes

The term “analyte” refers to any molecule of interest, including,organic molecules, inorganic molecules, polypeptides, carbohydrates,nucleic acids, lipids, derivatives thereof, and combinations thereof.Analytes include biomolecules which are shed from cell surfaces,released from cells (e.g., by exocytosis, lysis, etc.), metabolites,degradation products, protease digestion products, etc., withoutlimitation. In one aspect of the invention, the methods can be utilizedto entrap molecules in a biological fluid of a low molecular weight,especially those that would be excluded from the body by normalglomerular (kidney) filtration (e.g., molecules less that 30,000Daltons) which are soluble and free-floating in the fluid or which areassociated with carrier proteins. In general, the present invention canbe used to capture any analyte of interest whose detection is desiredincluding but not limited to sizes less than about 60,000 Da, less thanabout 50,000 Da, less than about 40,000 Da, less than about 30,000 Da,less than about 20,000 Da, less than about 10,000 Da, less than about8,000 Da, less than about 6,000 Da, less than about 4,000 Da, less thanabout 2,000 Da, less than about 1,000 Da, including all individualvalues within each stated range.

With respect to body fluids, the capture-particles of the presentinvention can also be used to detect exogenous molecules, i.e., amolecule that was introduced into the body of the subject from whom thesample was obtained. Exogenous molecules can be actively or passivelyintroduced into the subject. Examples of exogenous molecules includemolecules present in, or in the form of, drugs, foods, tobacco,environmental products and contaminants (e.g., pesticides, carbonmonoxide, etc), and essentially any molecule that enters the subjectbody through any route. Exogenous molecules also include theirmetabolites, by-products, and degradation products as processed ortransformed in the body.

The capture particles can be utilized in any environment, including invivo, ex vivo, and in vitro. For example, the particles can also be usedas a tool to clear toxins from the blood in an in vivo or ex vivocontext. For example, the particles can be utilized to remove toxicwastes from the blood, such as creatinine and urea, replacing the needfor conventional dialysis.

Molecular Sieve Material

The capture-particles of the present invention can be comprised of amolecular sieve material (or molecular sieve portion). By this, it ismeant that the material is porous, lattice-like, honeycombed, or hasother properties that permit passage of analytes of a defined molecularmass or weight while excluding others. The size of the sieve pore is adeterminant of whether the analyte can penetrate the capture-particle.The particle, itself, can be of any suitable size, e.g., less than about10 μm, between about 10 μm and about 1 μm, between about 1 μm and about100 nm, between about 1 nm and 100 nm, between about 5 nm and about 50nm; between about 10 nm and about 20 nm; between about 10 nm and 1 nm;including all individual values within each recited range.

Pores in the sieve material can be designed based on the providedmethods to diameters necessary for exclusion of unwanted molecules.Average pore sizes of between about 2 to about 20 nm, 1 nm to 1 μm, 1 nmto 10 nm, 1 nm to 50 nm, 10 nm to 50 nm, 50 nm to 100 nm, 10 nm to 200nm, 50 nm to 500 nm, 1 nm to 10 nm, 1 nm to 5 nm, and other ranges areenvisioned.

An optional feature of capture-particles is its ability to “trap” ananalyte once it has entered the sieve material. The trapping may beachieved by using sieve materials which are capable of contractingand/or expanding in response to a physical or chemical treatment. Forexample, materials can be utilized which, when subjected to a chemicalor physical treatment, contract or shrink, thereby trapping the analyteinside. Such materials can also be referred to as “smart materials”which have the ability to change shape or size by subject to a physicalor chemical treatment. Any material having this property can be utilizedwithout restriction, including, but not limited to, e.g., polyacrylamideand derivatives thereof; poly(N-isopropylacrylamide (e.g., Jones andLyon, Macromolecules, 36:1988-1993, 2003; Jones and Lyon,Macromolecules, 33:8310-8306, 2000) and other N-alkyl substitutedacrylamides; poly(N-vinylalkylamides); poly(methacrylic acid);poly(benzyl glutamate); poly(2-ethylacrylic acid);poly(4-vinylpyridine); ferroelectric liquid crystalline elastomers;piezoelectric polymers; “smart” gels, ceramics, alloys, and polymers,etc. See, also, e.g., Galaev et at., Pages 835-849; Zentel; Pages850-860; Harrison and Ounaies, Pages 860-873; in Encyclopedia of SmartMaterials, Volumes 1-2, Edited by, Schwartz, Mel© 2002 John Wiley &Sons. The capture-particles can be prepared routinely as known in theart or described in any of the above-mentioned references.

In one embodiment of the present invention the capture-particles do notcontain any poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) constituent. Furthermore,capture particles in this embodiment also excludepoly(N-isoproplyacrylamide-co-acrylic acid.)

Physical or Chemical Treatment of Sieve Material

Physical and/or chemical treatments that can be utilized to contractand/or expand the sieve material can comprise thermal, electrical,magnetic, ultrasound, pressure, radiant, laser, osmotic, pH, salt,enzymatic, oxidation/reduction, dehydration/rehydration, ultraviolet,radiation, high intensity red light, treatments.

The sieve material can reversibly or non-reversibly contract or shrink.For example, the capture-particles can be placed in a solution where theanalytes are permitted to penetrate, and then non-reversibly shrunk tocapture the analyte. This could be useful where the objective is toremove a contaminant from a solution, and it is not necessary to analyzeor further evaluate the nature of the captured analyte, thus notrequiring it to be expanded. Alternatively, non-reversiblecapture-particle can be broken apart by sonication or other disruptiveforces which destroy the integrity of the particle.

In one embodiment the capture-particle is capable of expanding andcontracting to allow for capture and/or sequestration of an analyte.

In another embodiment, the capture-particle does not expand or contractto any significant degree to enable increased or reduced uptake of ananalyte. That is the volume of the particle is substantially fixed.Examples of such capture particles include particles comprising viralproteins, Clatherin, carbon nanotubes or species which do not permit theexpansion/contraction described previously. An example illustratingpreparation of a polygonal structure from Clatherin is described inJaarsveld, et al., Biochemistry 1981, 20, 4129-4135 hereby incorporatedby reference.

Analyte Binding (Affinity) Portion

The capture particles can comprise surface protein properties forselective analyte binding and/or can be modified by the attachment ofmoieties that confer such binding properties.

The capture-particles can further comprise an analyte binding, affinityligand or “bait.” Such terms can refer to substances which are capableof specifically attaching to an analyte of interest. Typical examplesinclude, but are not limited to antibodies and derivatives thereof(e.g., Fab fragments and single-chain antibodies); binding proteins(e.g., receptors or fragments thereof for specific ligands); bindingpairs (such as Streptavidin/biotin); substrates; metals; chelatingagents; nucleic acids; aptamers; enzyme-binding pockets; lectins; and/oran affinity group that is specific for an analyte of interest. The term“specific” has a functional meaning that the affinity ligand can be useto selectively bind to an analyte of interest in a sample anddistinguish it from non-target analytes. It is specific in the sensethat it can be used to detect analytes above background noise(“non-specific binding”). The affinity ligand can be selected such thatit has a higher affinity for the analyte of interest than othercomponents in the sample, allowing to out-compete any native bindingproteins for the analyte.

The affinity ligands can be associated with the capture-particle in anysuitable way. For example, they can used as a nucleus around which thesieve material is overlayed or deposited/nucleated in order to form thecapture-particle; they can be directly incorporated into the sievematerial prior to forming the particle (i.e., where the ligand is acomponent of the sieve material); they can be conventionally coupled(covalently or noncovalently) to the pore surfaces of the sievematerial; etc. The affinity ligands can also be loaded into the captureparticle by expanding the sieve material through appropriate physical orchemical treatment to reach a porosity that is large enough to admit theligand, and then contacting the sieve material with the ligand underconditions effective for it to enter the particle. Once the particle isloaded with the affinity ligand, it can be shrunk by appropriatephysical or chemical treatment, thereby reducing the sieve material'sporosity, such that target analytes are still able to penetrate theparticle, but larger analytes are excluded. The sieve porosity can bereduced after the affinity ligand loading step to pore size which issmall enough to block the affinity ligand from diffusing out, making itunnecessary to link the affinity ligand to the sieve material. However,if desired, coupling processes can be used to link it to the sievematerial.

Capture-particles baited with affinity ligands provide an analyteselection step, in addition to selection for analyte size or mass. Forexample, a capture-particle can be expanded to allow analytes topenetrate into it, and then the analytes can be further selected bytheir ability to specifically bind to an affinity ligand associated withthe capture-particle. After the binding step is achieved (e.g., afterequilibrium is reached), the particles can be separated and subjected towashing steps to remove unbound non-target analytes, and then optionallyshrunk by a chemical or physical treatment.

The capture-particles can also further comprise antibodies as anaffinity portion. Other candidate affinity portions include, but are notlimited to, soluble receptors, polyamine analogs, antisenseoligonucleotides, RNAi polynucleotides, ribozymes, and the like.Antibodies and soluble receptors are of particular interest as affinityportions where they target analytes of interest.

Antibodies

Affinity portions include antibodies and functional equivalents thereofthat specifically bind to analytes. “Immunoglobulin” and “antibody” areused interchangeably and in their broadest sense herein. Thus, theyencompass intact monoclonal antibodies, polyclonal antibodies,multispecific antibodies (e.g., bispecific antibodies) formed from atleast two intact antibodies, and antibody fragments, so long as theyexhibit the desired biological activity.

The variable domains of the heavy and light chain of an antibodyrecognize or bind to a particular epitope of a cognate antigen. The term“epitope” is used to refer to the specific binding sites or antigenicdeterminant on an antigen that the variable end of the immunoglobulinbinds. Epitopes can be linear, i.e., be composed of a sequence of aminoacid residues, conformational, such that an immunoglobulin recognizes a3-D structure, or a combination thereof.

Monoclonal and Polyclonal Antibodies

Immunoglobulins of the invention may be polyclonal or monoclonal, andmay be produced by any of the well known methods in this art.

Polyclonal antibodies are preferably raised in animals by multiplesubcutaneous (sc), intraperitoneal (ip) or intramuscular (im) injectionsof the relevant antigen and an adjuvant. It may be useful to conjugatethe relevant antigen to a protein that is immunogenic in the species tobe immunized. In addition, aggregating agents such as alum are suitablyused to enhance the immune response.

The term “monoclonal antibody” refers to an antibody obtained from apopulation of substantially homogeneous antibodies. Monoclonalantibodies are highly specific, being directed against a singleantigenic site. Furthermore, in contrast to polyclonal antibodypreparations that typically include different antibodies directedagainst different determinants, each monoclonal antibody is directedagainst a single determinant on the antigen.

In addition to their specificity, monoclonal antibodies are advantageousin that they may be synthesized while uncontaminated by otherimmunoglobulins. For example, monoclonal antibodies may be produced bythe hybridoma method or by recombinant DNA methods. Monoclonalantibodies also may be isolated from phage antibody libraries.

Antibody Fragments

“Antibody fragments” comprise a portion of an intact antibody,preferably the antigen-binding or variable region thereof. Examples ofantibody fragments include Fab, Fab′, F(ab′)̂2, Fv fragments, diabodies,linear antibodies, single-chain antibody molecules, and multispecificantibodies formed from antibody fragments.

Various techniques have been developed for the production of antibodyfragments. Traditionally, these fragments were derived via proteolyticdigestion of intact antibodies. Two digestion methodologies that arewell known in the art include papain digestion and pepsin treatment.Antibody fragments may now additionally be produced directly byrecombinant host cells.

Bispecific Antibodies

Bispecific antibodies of the invention are small antibody fragments withtwo antigen-binding sites. Each fragment comprises a heavy-chainvariable domain connected to a light-chain variable domain in the samepolypeptide chain. By using a linker that is too short to allow pairingbetween the two domains on the same chain, the domains are forced topair with the complementary domains of another chain and create twoantigen binding sites.

Methods for making bispecific antibodies are well known in the art.Traditional production of full length bispecific antibodies is based onthe coexpression of two immunoglobulin heavy chain-light chain pairs,where the two chains have different specificities. Bispecificantibodies, however, may also be produced using leucine zippers.

The capture-particles can also further comprise detectable labels. Bythe term “detectable label,” it is meant any moiety or substance thatcan be detected by any means. These include, quantum dots, fluorescentlabels, enzymes, magnetic particles, etc. The detectable label can beassociated with any region of the capture-particle, including its poresand exterior surface. Detectable labels are useful in a number of ways,including for sorting different classes of capture-particles. Forexample, different classes of capture-particles can be produced, whereeach class possesses a different characteristic (e.g., a different poresize and/or a different affinity-ligand), and each carries a differentdetectable label associated with each class of particles. This enablesthe property of the particle class (e.g., able to bind to a specificantigen) to be identified by determining which detectable label itbears, For instance, a particle with a single chain antibody for PSA canbe labeled with FITC, and a particle containing an antibody for{alpha}-Methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR) can be labeled with TRITC. Afterperforming the entrapment step, the particles can be sorted by flowcytometry using fluorescent-activated cell sorting, separating theHA-containing particles from the AMACR-containing particles.

Purification Methods

The capture particles of the current invention may be used inpurification protocols to isolate analytes of interest from samples. Asdescribed above, the capture particles allow for purification ofanalytes based on size and affinity and this invention allows for quickisolation of analytes of interest from samples in order to preserve andstudy the analytes of interest. These analytes are preserved in thecapture particles in order to prevent degradation from enzyme or othermolecules in the sample.

Diagnostic Methods

The current invention also include a method of diagnosing a disease bycontacting a sample comprising analytes with solution-phasecapture-particles under conditions effective for the capture-particlesto selectively bind analytes of a defined molecular mass, particle size,or defined affinity and then identifying the analytes selectively boundto the capture particles. The presence of analytes in the sample atidentified concentrations would be characteristic of a disease state.Detecting the presence of an analyte could be done using methods wellknown to one of skill in the art such as enzyme-linked immunosorbantassay (ELISA), mass spectrometry, radioimmunoassay (RIA), micro arraymethods, immunoflourescence. northern blots, polymerase chain reaction(PCR), and in situ hybridization.

Kits

In certain kit embodiments, the capture particles are provided in a formsuitable for use in purification or diagnostic methods. Kits generallyprovide the capture particles as well as reagents, instructions, and thenecessary products for performing the purification or diagnostic method.These kits are envisioned for use by doctors in a medical setting tostore samples or by others to begin purification and isolation of serumanalytes.

The disclosure of all publications cited above are expresslyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties to the same extentas if each were incorporated by reference individually.

In some embodiments the capture-particles comprise a molecular sieveportion and an analyte binding portion wherein the molecular sieveportion, analyte binding portion or both further comprise a cross-linkedregion having modified porosity.

In some embodiments, the capture particles comprise a molecular sieveportion and an analyte binding portion wherein the molecular sieveportion, analyte binding portion or both comprise pore dimensionssufficient to exclude molecules larger than about 60 kDa.

In one embodiment, said analyte binding portion comprises at least onetype of moiety capable of chemically or electrostatically binding orsequestering a an analyte. Accordingly, the analyte is effectivelyretained in a region within the capture-particle. Forces between theanalyte and the analyte binding region may be that of, covalent bonding,van der waals forces, hydrophobic-hydrophobic, hydrogen bonding,hydrophyllic attraction, ionic attraction, or any combination thereof.

In another embodiment, the capture particles comprise pore sizes ofbetween about 2 and about 20 nanometers with all individual values inbetween.

In another embodiment, the capture particles comprise pore sizes of lessthan about 100 nm including all individual values within this range.

In another embodiment, the capture particle comprises pore sizesdimensioned to exclude molecules having sizes greater than about 60 kDa.

In another embodiment, the capture particle comprises pore sizesdimensioned to exclude albumin.

In another embodiment, the capture particle comprises pore sizedsufficiently large to permit passage of molecules of 1404Da size whileexcluding albumin, molecules having sizes greater than about 60 kDa orboth.

The entire disclosure of all applications, patents and publicationscited above, and in the figures are hereby incorporated by reference intheir entirety. Certain embodiments of the invention are set forth inthe non-limiting examples below. It will be apparent to one of skill inthe art that there are other embodiments not explicitly set forth inthis specification that are within the scope and spirit of the inventionas claimed.

The examples described herein are illustrative of the present inventionand are not intended to be limitations thereon. Different embodiments ofthe present invention have been described according to the presentinvention. Many modifications and variations may be made to thetechniques described and illustrated herein without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, it should be understoodthat the examples are illustrative only and are not limiting upon thescope of the invention.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Capture Particles Incorporating N-Isopropylacrylamide(NIP am)

Capture particles incorporating N-Isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) andN,N-methylenebisacrylamide (BIS) were created by surfactant-freeprecipitation polymerization. BIS was used as the crosslinker, and theBIS:NIP Am monomer ratio determined the resultant network density andthus the average pore size. Further, a preparation of particlescontaining acrylic acid (AAc) was fabricated in order to incorporate acharge-based affinity bait into the particles. N-Isopropylacrylamide(NIPAm), N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (BIS), ammonium persulfate (APS),acrylic acid (AAc) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich of St. Louis, Mo.Water for reactions, washing and loading will be purified with aMillipore Milli-Q water purification system to a resistance of 18 MQ andpassed through a 0.2 μm filter.

The total monomer concentration (NIPAm and BIS) was 0.3 M. Particleswere made using varying amounts of crosslinker during polymerization,including 2% and 5% total concentration of crosslinking agent in orderto vary the pore sizes of the particles. The monomers were fullydissolved in 190 mL of water inside of a round bottom 250 mL 3-neckflask fitted with a condenser and thermometer at a medium stir rate(magnetic stirrer). The solution was heated to 70° C. over the period of1 hour under a stream of nitrogen. When a stable maximum stir rate wasachieved, the polymerization was initiated with a 1.0 mL solution of 6mM APS. The reaction was allowed to proceed for 3 hours under nitrogen.After cooling to room temperature overnight, 0.5 mL aliquots of themicro gel solution was placed into individual 1.5 mL capacity centrifugetubes and diluted with 1.0 mL of water. The samples were then centhfugedfor 20 minutes at 23° C. and 16,100 rcf with an Eppendorf 541 SRcentrifuge. The supernatant was decanted and the microgels redispersedin water, again to a volume of 1.5 mL. This process was repeated for atotal of five concentration/redispersion steps. Uniformity and sizerange was assessed using photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS submicronparticles analyzer, Beckman Coulter), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM),light microscopy as well as uptake of fluorescent dyes with fluorescencemicroscopy visualization. Flow cytometry also enabled relative size tobe assigned through the use of commercially available fluorescentlylabeled sizing particles as standards.

In order to investigate the molecular exclusion properties of theparticles, particles fabricated using 2% crosslinker concentration wereincubated with five molecular species: FITC (MW 389), fluorescein linkedto a small peptide angiotensin II (MWI404), FITC linked to insulin (MW3500), to streptavidin (MW 53000), and to albumin (MW 66000).In-solution separation of five types of molecules was conducted. Foreach of the five fluorescent molecules, 0.1 mL of purified microgelswere placed into a 1.5 mL centrifuge tube. To this, 0.1 mL of moleculesolution was added and mixed gently on a vortex. Fluorescence uptake bythe particles was measured using a FACScan (Becton Dickinson).Experiments were conducted at different incubation times and atdifferent concentrations of fluorescent molecules. These experimentsindicated that small FITC molecules readily migrated into the particles,in as little as 10 minutes, and that the response is dose dependent. Thefluorescein-labeled peptide also migrated into the particle, but with aless intense signal shift when compared with FITC, indicating that theparticles have a size-mediated selectivity. For both FITC- andfluorescein-labeled peptide, the level of internalization was higher inthe 2% crosslinker population of particles than in the 5% crosslinkerpopulation. This is consistent with a smaller nanopore size within themore highly crosslinked particle population, which would makeinternalization of the peptide more difficult. In both the 2% and 5%populations, albumin was excluded. Streptavidin and BSA were excludedfrom particles since there was no shift in the fluorescence signal. FITClabeled insulin was investigated both as an aqueous solution and spikedin human serum. Particles incubated with serum had a shift in thefluorescent signal that demonstrated insulin harvesting from a complexbiological solution. Particles incubated with aqueous solution of FITClabeled insulin yielded a more intense fluorescent shift when comparedto the serum.

SDS PAGE experiments were carried out on particles with a crosslikerconcentration of 2% and demonstrated insulin (MW 3500) and myoglobin (MW17000) uptake, BSA (MW 66000) exclusion. Acrylic acid functionalizedparticles were incubated with a 20 mM solution of myoglobin and capturedall the protein in solution, giving a much higher uptake yield whencompared to plain particles.

Example 2 Electro-Transport of the Particles

Serum incubated particles with 2% crosslinker were loaded in a sampletube of centrilutor micro-electroeluter (Millipore) where a 5 mm long30% acrylamide/bis gel slice was previously polymerized. When anelectric field was created, particles migrated towards the positiveelectrode through the gel slice without losing their protein content.

Example 3 Hydrogel Particles

The ability of hydrogel particles to perform directly, in one step andin solution, the partition, affinity separation, concentration, andstabilization of low molecular weight proteins in serum was analyzed asa new rapid method for blood derived biomarker isolation and analysis.Hydrogels, by definition, are three-dimensional cross-linked polymericnetworks that can imbibe large amounts of water (Pelton, R. Adv ColloidInterface Sci 2000, 85, (1), 1-33). They are usually formed throughmonomer polymerization in the presence of a cross-linking agent, whichis typically a monomer with at least two polymerizable functionalmoieties. Gels can be categorized as nonresponsive (simple polymericnetworks dramatically swell upon exposure to water) or responsive gels(have added functionality and display changes in solvation in responseto certain stimuli such as temperature (Li and Tanaka, The Journal ofChemical Physics 1990, 92, (2), 1365-1371) pH, (Jones and Lyon,Macromolecules 2000, 33, (22), 8301-8306; Moselhy et al., Journal ofBiomaterials Science, Polymer Edition 2000, 11, (2), 123-147) ionicstrength (Duracher et al., Colloid & Polymer Science 1998, 276, (3),219-231; Duracher et al., Colloid & Polymer Science 1998, 276, (10),920-929) light (Sershen et al., Temperature-sensitive polymer-nanoshellcomposites for photothermally modulated drug delivery, In 2000; Vol. 51,pp 293-298; Suzuki and Tanaka, Nature 1990, 346, (6282), 345-347) andelectric field (Tanaka et al., Science, 1982, 218, 467-9).

Poly (N-alkyl acrylamides) have been extensively studied with respect totheir thermoresponsivity (Pelton, R. Adv Colloid Interface Sci 2000, 85,(1), 1-33; Inomata et al., Macromolecules, 1990, 23, 4887-8) withpoly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (NIPAm) being one of the most stronglyexplored temperature sensitive hydro gels within this group. NIP Amcontaining particles are highly appealing for their potentialbiotechnological applications, because of their stability, uniformity,and versatility with regard to the ease of making physical-chemicalmodifications in the particles. NIP Am particles have been investigatedfor drug delivery slow release and targeted release, for solutedesorption (Kawaguchi et al., Colloid & Polymer Science 1992, 270, (1),53-57; Achiha et al., Polym. Adv. Technol, 1995, 6, (7), 534-540; Delairet al., Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects1999, 153, (1-3), 341-353; Mattiasson et al., Nat. Protocols 2007, 2,(1), 213-220; Spamacci et al., J Biomater Sci Polym Ed 2005, 16, (12),1557-74; Haruyuki Hiratani, Macromolecular Bioscience 2005, 5, (8),728-733; Nahar et al., Crit. Rev Ther Drug Carrier Syst 2006, 23, (4),259-318; Wu et al., Journal of Controlled Release 2005, 102, (2),361-372; Zhang et al., Biomaterials 2005, 26, (16), 3299-309; Woo etal., Ph arm Res 2001, 18, (11), 1600-6; Basinska, Macromol Biosci 2005,5, (12), 1145-68), interaction with cells (Achiha et al., Polym. Adv.Technol, 1995, 6, (7), 534-540), and coupling witholigodeoxyribonucleotides (OND) as a solid phase for hybridization(Delair et al., Colloids and Suifaces A: Physicochemical and EngineeringAspects 1999, 153, (1-3), 341-353). Since the size and porosity can becontrolled by temperature, the use of temperature treatment to controluptake and release of chemicals has been one of the most extensivelycharacterized application of NIP Am particles as vectors for controlleddrug delivery (Spamacci et al., J Biomater Sci Polym Ed 2005, 16, (12),1557-74; Haruyuki Hiratani, Macromolecular Bioscience 2005, 5, (8),728-733; Nahar et al., Crit. Rev Ther Drug Carrier Syst 2006, 23, (4),259-318; Wu et al., Journal of Controlled Release 2005, 102, (2),361-372; Zhang et al., Biomaterials 2005, 26, (16), 3299-309; Woo etal., Pharm Res 2001, 18, (11), 1600-6; Basinska, Macromol Biosci 2005,5, (12), 1145-68).

In the present study, hydrogel particles containing an affinity bait anda defined porosity were developed and demonstrated to a) rapidly and inone step sequester the low molecular weight fraction of serum proteins,peptides and metabolites, b) remove and concentrate the target moleculesfrom solution, and c) protect captured proteins from enzymaticdegradation.

NIPAm based particles have been chosen because their high water content,broad range of tunable porosities, consistency and uniformity followingsynthesis, functional reconstitution following freeze-drying, andpotential biocompatibility. By changing the percentage of cross linkingagent and temperature, it is possible to control the particles size andthe effective porosity. A significant advantage for the applicationstudied here is the ability of these particles to rapidly uptakemolecules because of their open structure, high water content, dualhydrophobic and hydrophilic chemical moieties that can be substituted inthe polymer, and large surface area. This is a critical requirement forthe goal of rapid harvesting of labile small proteins in solution andprotecting the proteins from degradation. The small size, uniformity ofparticle dimension, and reproducibility from batch to batch, of NIP Amprovide special advantages for applications in flow cytometry.

Example 4 Hydrogel Particle Synthesis and Characterization

Gel particles incorporating N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) were createdand evaluated for molecular sieving properties. A second class ofparticles containing both NIP Am and acrylic acid (AAc), NIPAm/AAc, werefabricated to incorporate a charge-based affinity bait into theparticles, as shown in FIG. 1 (Pelton, Adv Colloid Interface Sci 2000,85, (1), 1-33; Jones and Lyon, Macromolecules 2000, 33, (22), 8301-8306;Saunders and Vincent, Advances in Colloid and Interface Science 1999,80, (1), 1-25). To obtain N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) particles, NIPAm(1.4 g) and BIS (0.04 g) were dissolved in 150 ml of water and thenfiltered twice through a membrane filter (Pall Gelman Metricel). Thesolution was degassed under vacuum for at least 20 minutes. SDS (0.057g) was then dissolved in the monomer solution, which was filtered again.During filtration 40 ml of water were used for transfer and washing. Thesolution was placed in a round bottom 250 ml 3-neck flask fitted with acondenser and thermometer at a medium stir rate (Coning magneticstirrer). The solution was heated to 70° C. for 1 hour under a nitrogenatmosphere. A stable maximum stir rate was reached and polymerizationinitiated via addition of APS (0.069 g) dissolved in 10 ml of degassedwater. The reaction was allowed to proceed at a temperature of 70° C.for 6 hours under nitrogen. NIP Am/acrylic acid (AAc) particles werefabricated using the same reaction condition as NIP Am particles above.The initial monomer solution was obtained by dissolving NIPAm (1.3 g),BIS (0.10 g), and AAc (0.072 g) in 150 ml water. All particles werepurified via dialysis (Spectra/Por 7 dialysis membranes, MWCO 10,000,VWR) against frequent changes of stirring water for 2 weeks at 4° C.

Example 5 Particle Size Dependence on Temperature and pH

Particle size dependence on temperature and pH were determined viaPhoton Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS, Submicron Particle Size Analyzer,Beckman Coulter). Average values were calculated for 3 measurementsusing a 200 second integration time, and the solutions were allowed tothermally equilibrate for 10 minutes before each set of measurements.Measured values were then converted to particle sizes via theStokes-Einstein relationship (Pecora, Dynamic Light Scattering:Applications of Photo Correlation Spectroscopy. Springer: 1985; p 436).NIPAm particle size decreased with increasing temperature (FIG. 2A),which is a distinctive characteristic of thermo responsive hydrogels(Spamacci et al., J Biomater Sci Polym Ed 2005, 16, (12), 1557-74;Haruyuki Hiratani, Macromolecular Bioscience 2005, 5, (8), 728-733;Nahar et al., Crit. Rev Ther Drug Carrier Syst 2006, 23, (4), 259-318;Wu et al., Journal of Controlled Release 2005, 102, (2), 361-372; Zhanget al., Biomaterials 2005, 26, (16), 3299-309; Woo et al., Pharm Res2001, 18, (11), 1600-6). The NIPAm/AAc particles showed a similartemperature dependence with respect to particle size, however they alsodemonstrated a pH dependent behavior (FIG. 2B). At low pH (3.5) AAcgroups are protonated and NIPAm/AAc particle size dependence ontemperature is similar to underivatized particles. At higher pH (4.5 and6.5) AAc groups are partially deprotonated and the average particle sizeincreases, likely due to Coulombic interaction between polymeric chainand osmotic pressure resulting from counter ion ingress in particles(Fernandez-Nieves et al., Macromolecules 2000, 33, 2114-2118; Ito etal., Langmuir 1999, 15, (12), 4289-4294).

Particles were further characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM)using an NSCRIPTOR™ DPN® System (NanoInk). Images were acquired under ACmode using a silicon tip with a typical resonance frequency of 300 kHzand a radius smaller than 10 nm. Aliquots of 1% w/v particles (50 μlL)were deposited on freshly cleaved mica; samples were incubated for tenminutes in humid atmosphere at room temperature to allow deposition, andthen dried under nitrogen flow. AFM images of these particles (FIGS. 2Cand 2D) show them to be homogeneous in size, and with particle diametersconsistent with those measured with light scattering.

Example 6 Molecular Sieving by Hydrogel Particles

NIPAm particles were tested for their molecular sieve performance insolution as schematically presented in FIG. 3; the goal being to createparticles that could capture proteins and small molecules with molecularweights less than 20,000 Da since the peptidome is thought to contain arich source of biomarkers (Tirumalai et al., Molecular & cellularproteomics 2003, 2, (10), 1096-103; Merrell et al., Journal ofbiomolecular techniques 2004, 15, (4), 238-48; Orvisky et al.,Proteomics 2006, 6, (9), 2895-902).

This size range contains informative proteins, peptides and metabolitesthat are difficult, if not impossible, to separate from complex proteinmixtures (such as serum or plasma) with adequate yield using 2-D gelelectrophoresis or column chromatography. The degree of cross-linkingwithin the particle enabled exclusion of albumin and other highabundance large molecules while capturing molecules with sizes smallerthan the cut-off pore size of the particles. Particles with varieddegrees of cross-linking were investigated until one was identified thatdemonstrated an effective 20,000 Da exclusive pore size. These particleswere further studied in order to evaluate their sieving efficiency andnonspecific binding of excluded molecules to the particle surface.Because serum albumin is present in large excess (106-109 fold) relativeto the proteins and peptides of interest, it was necessary to examinethe efficiency and completeness of albumin exclusion.

Two independent methods were used to measure sieving performance: flowcytometry and gel electrophoresis. Aliquots of NIP Am particles (50 μL,10 mg/mL) were incubated with target molecular species, and centrifugedto collect the particles (7 minutes, 25° C., 16,100 rcf). Thesupernatant was removed and the particles were resuspended in 1 mLwater. Centrifugation and washing were repeated three times and thefluorescent intensity of the particles was measured using a FACScan flowcytometer (Becton Dickinson). The background fluorescent signal ofuntreated particles in water was used as a reference for allmeasurements. Fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC, MW 389 Da) was used as amodel to study small molecule uptake and the dependence of uptake onincubation time and concentration. Particles incubated with variousconcentrations of FITC 5 μM, 20 μM, and 100 μM) showed a dose dependentuptake rate (FIG. 4A) toward saturation. Time course studiesdemonstrated that FITC uptake could occur rapidly (5 minutes, FIG. 4B)at 10% v/v particles concentration.

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B particles incubated with FITC-BSA (MW 66,000Da) have no detectable shift in fluorescence signal relative to theparticle background fluorescence, which indicates no detectable BSAuptake or non specific binding by the particles. On the other hand,incubation with FITC-insulin (MW 3,SOO Da) results in a right shift influorescence relative to the control, confirming the uptake of insulinby the particles. FITC alone (MW 389 Da), a molecule in the size rangeof many metabolites, and FITC-myoglobin (MW 17,000 Da), another proteinbelow the effective size cut-off of the particles, were both rapidlycaptured.

These findings were confirmed by SDS-PAGE analysis. The particles weredirectly loaded on the gel after incubation with protein solution andwashing. Insulin (FIG. 5C), and myoglobin (FIG. 5D) were trapped byparticles, while BSA was totally excluded (FIG. 5D).

Example 7 Incorporation of a Charged Bait in the Molecular SievingParticles Significantly Enhances Uptake

Passive molecular sieving cannot effectively harvest and concentrate allof the target proteins in solution because the concentration of thecaptured target protein in the particles is dependent on the equilibriumbetween rates of proteins exiting and entering particles and theconcentration of the target protein in the bulk solution. Consequentlyparticles were constructed that incorporated an affinity bait tofacilitate harvesting of target proteins and prevent the capturedproteins from exiting the particle.

A negatively-charged moiety was selected as a bait for proteins andmolecules that have a positive net charge. Incorporation of anegatively-charged bait within the particles would allow the particlesto preferentially sequester and concentrate positively-charged proteins,peptides and other biomolecules. Therefore, particles were preparedbased on a NIPAm/AAc copolymer, which carries a large net negativecharge at pH values greater than 3.5. As shown schematically in FIG. 6,the presence of charged bait, in principle, should enhance substantiallythe Keq and thereby achieve a significantly higher concentration of thetarget protein inside the particle compared to the solution outside theparticle.

As shown in FIG. 7 A, NIPAm/AAc particles concentrated analytes fromsolution with substantially greater efficiency relative to underivatizedNIP Am particles. Suspensions of NIPAm and NIPAm/AAc particles (10mg/mL) were incubated for 1 hour with myoglobin (MW 17,000 Da, 20 μM inwater). Following incubation with NIPAm particles, significant levels ofmyoglobin remained in the bulk solution with some protein being bound bythe particles, which lack the anionic affinity bait (FIG. 7 A).Following incubation with NIPAm/AAc particles, which contain the anionicaffinity bait, all of the myoglobin had been captured by the NIPAm/AAcparticles, with no detectable myoglobin remaining in bulk solution.Correlating myoglobin band intensity for serial dilutions of NIPAm/AAcparticles with that of NIP Am particles suggests that the NIPAm/AAcparticles sequestered myoglobin with more than 128-fold greaterefficiency compared with particles that lack the affinity bait.

In order to demonstrate that the superior protein uptake associated withNIPAm/AAc particles was charge driven, aliquots of a solution containingmyoglobin (20 μM) and BSA (20 μM) were incubated with NIPAm/AAcparticles in phosphate buffer titrated to either pH 5.5 or pH 8 (FIG.7B). Particles were separated by centrifugation and washed three timeswith MilliQ water. At pH 5.5, myoglobin (pI 7) is expected to bepositively charged, and electrostatic interactions between the proteinand the negatively charged carboxyl groups of NIPAm/AAc particles wouldbe attractive. However at pH 8, myoglobin would be negatively charged,and any electrostatic interactions with the anionic particles wouldlikely be repulsive in nature. Consistent with these expectations,myoglobin was efficiently sequestered by NIPAm/AAc particles at pH 5.5where the protein and the particles have opposite net charges, and nomyoglobin was detectable in particles that had been incubated withmyoglobin at pH 8 (FIG. 7B).

The efficiency of NIPAm/AAcaffinity baited particles to bind andconcentrate proteins and peptides with MW less than ca. 20,000 Da isillustrated in FIG. 8A. NIPAm/AAcand NIP Am particles were eachincubated for 1 hour with lysozyme (20 μM) and BSA (20 μM) in Tris (pH7.50 mM). The particles then were washed with three 1 mL volumes ofwater, and the captured proteins were electro-eluted onto an SDSpolyacrylamide gel.

While the NIPAm/AAc particles appeared to have captured all of thelysozyme present in the solution, there was no indication that BSA hadbeen bound non-specifically by the particles. As was observed withmyoglobin, NIP Am particles, lacking the affinity bait, did not appearto significantly concentrate lysozyme.

A solution of protein molecular weight markers was used to furtherassess the molecular weight cut off (MWCO) of the proteins sequesteredby the particles (FIG. 8B). The solution consisted of 0.5 mg/mL of eachof the following proteins: aprotinin (MW 6,500 Da, Sigma-Aldrich),lysozyme (MW 14,400 Da, Sigma-Aldrich), trypsin inhibitor (MW 21,500 Da,Invitrogen), carbonic anhydrase (MW 31,000 Da, SigmaAldrich), ovalbumin(MW 45,000 Da, Sigma-Aldrich), and BSA (MW 66,000 Da, Fisher Scientific)dissolved in Tris (PH 7, 50 mM). It was found that NIPAm/AAc baitedparticles, incubated with the protein solution, effectively captured andconcentrated all protein molecules with MW less than ca. 21,500 Da, anddid not bind any proteins with MW greater than 21,500 Da. NIP Amparticles showed a similar MWCO with MW<=14,400 Da or smaller and notbinding proteins MW>=14,400 Da. The MWCO resolution achieved withNIPAm/AAcand NIP Am particles compares favorably, or exceeds, thatassociated with standard molecular sieving chromatography41. In order tofurther determine the molecular sieving properties of the beads,NIPAm/AAc particles were incubated with platelet derived growth factor B(0.003 mg/mL, 14,500 Da, Cell Signaling) and BSA (0.067 mg/mL) in Tris(100 mM pH 7) for one hour. Washing procedure was the same as describedbefore. SDS PAGE in FIG. 9 shows complete PDGF uptake and BSA exclusion.PDGF is a representative model for low abundance low molecular weightprotein present in the blood and PDGF-B concentration in blood is 3.3ng/mL (Eppley et al., Plastic and reconstructive surgery 2004, 114, (6),1502-842). Because of the drastic change in size particles undergo whenthe temperature of solution is altered, temperature effects on MWCO wereinvestigated. The solution of molecular weight markers described abovewas incubated with NIPAm/AAc particles at 25, 37, and 45° C. and thetemperature was a factor that did not affect the MWCO (data not shown).

Example 8 Sequestration from Serum

Based on the above results, the ability of the particles to capturesmall molecules spiked in complex solutions such as serum was thentested to mimic real-world biomarker discovery and analysis typeexperiments. Aliquots of FITC-labeled insulin (final concentration 40 M)in 1:10 diluted serum were incubated with NIPAm and NIPAm/AAc particles.Flow cytometry analysis demonstrated that NIP Am particles incubated inserum containing FITC-insulin yielded a right shift in fluorescenceintensity relative to control particles and particles incubated withserum alone (FIG. 10A).

This result clearly demonstrated the ability of NIP Am particles tocapture insulin from a complex matrix such as serum. However, thecapture efficiency of the NIPAm particles incubated with a simpleaqueous solution containing only insulin was lower than that attainedwith serum incubated NIP Am particles. While the two classes ofparticles exhibited a similar uptake of insulin in an aqueous solution,the particles with the charged bait were more efficient in capturinginsulin spiked into serum compared to the underivatized particles. (FIG.10B).

Time courses uptake studies for NIP Am and NIPAm/AAc particles incubatedwith FITC-labeled insulin (pI 5.3) were conducted in order to confirmand extend the data obtained for the small molecule, FITe. Histograms offluorescence intensity associated with Flow cytometry analyses of NIP Amand NIPAm/AAc particles incubated with FITe-labeled insulin collected atdifferent time intervals are reported in FIG. 11. This data indicatesthat sequestration occurs rapidly (5 minutes) and constant over time.

Example 9 Rapid Time Course of Target Protein Uptake by Bait ContainingParticles

In order to prove that the kinetics of protein uptake is very rapid, theamount of protein remaining in bulk solution after incubation withNIPAm/AAc particles was measured by Reverse Phase Protein Arrays (RPPA)(Gulmann et al., The Journal of pathology 2006, 208, (5), 595-606). RPPAwas chosen as a means to determine protein concentration in particlessupernatant since other methods like Bradford assays do not havesufficient sensitivity and our goal was demonstrate how complete theprotein removal from bulk solution was. Different amounts of NIPAm/AAcparticles (1.15 and 11.5 million) were incubated with lysozyme (20 μM)in Tris (pH 7, 50 mM) in a total volume of 100 μL for periods of 1 and10 minutes. After centrifugation of the particles, aliquots ofsupernatant were spotted on a nitrocellulose coated slide (FAST slide,Whatman) using an Aushon 2470 robotic arrayer (Aushon Biosystems).Arrays were stained with a colloidal gold solution, AuroDye Forte Kit(Amersham), images were acquired using a PowerLook 1120 scanner (Umax),and numeric values were obtained from images with ImageQuant (GEHealthcare) and processed with SigmaPlot (Systat). The bulk solutionafter a one minute incubation with 1.15 million particles contained 28%of the initial protein amount, and 15% after ten minutes. Moreover, thesolution recovered from incubation with 11.5 million particles after 1and 10 minutes contained 5% and 9% of the initial amount, respectively(FIG. 12A). It should be noted that, since in all the time courseexperiments the separation of particles from solution was obtained bycentrifugation, reported time values refer to incubations time intervalsonly. Beyond that particles were in contact with solution for additional7 minutes required for centrifugation.

The kinetics of protein uptake by NIPAm/AAc particles was furtherinvestigated by incubating particles with BSA (20 μM) and lysozyme (20μM) in Tris (pH 7, 50 mM) at room temperature and using SDS-PAGE tomonitor lysozyme uptake at time points of 1, 10, 20, 30, and 60 minutes(FIG. 12B). The results of this experiment showed that lysozymesequestration was nearly complete after 1 minute and was complete by 60minutes, confirming that the process occurs very quickly as indicated inthe flow cytometry time course study described above. As expected, BSAwas excluded by the particles, and none of the BSA was taken-up by theNIPAm/AAc throughout the duration of the experiment (60 minutes).

Example 10 Demonstration of Isolation and Enrichment of Low MolecularWeight and Low Abundance Analytes from Serum

The ability of NIP AM and NIPAm/AAc particles to sequester andconcentrate low concentration candidate protein biomarkers from serumfor proteomic analysis was evaluated by incubating the particles with a1: 10 v Iv dilution of serum in water for 1 hour. The trapped proteinswere electrophoretically eluted from the particles under denaturingconditions and then trypsin digested. The particles were heated in SDSsample buffer for 5 minutes at 100° C. and loaded on a 4-20% TrisGlicine gel (Invitrogen). Bands below 30 kDa were cut and in-gel trypsindigestion was performed (Camerini et al., Proteomics Clin. Appl. 2007,1, 176-184). The resulting peptide fragments were analyzed by onlineliquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry(LC/ESI MS) using LTQ-Orbitrap mass spectrometer (Thermo Fisher).Reverse phase column was slurry-packed in-house with 5 m, 20 A pore sizeC18 resin (Michrom BioResources, CA) in 100 mm i.d.×10 cm long fusedsilica capillary (Polymicro Technologies, Phoenix, Ariz.) with alaser-pulled tip. After sample injection, the column was washed for 5minutes with mobile phase A (0.1% formic acid) and peptides were elutedusing a linear gradient of 0% mobile phase B (0.1% formic acid, 80%acetonitrile) to 50% mobile phase B in 50 minutes at 200 nl/min, then to100% B in an additional 5 minutes. The L TQ mass spectrometer wasoperated in a data-dependent mode in which each full MS scan wasfollowed by five MS/MS scans were the five most abundant molecular ionswere dynamically selected and fragmented by collision-induceddissociation (CID) using a normalized collision energy of 35%. MS/MSdata were matched against the NCB I (National Center for BiotechnologyInformation) human protein database with the program SEQUEST (Bioworkssoftware, Thermo) using full tryptic cleavage constraints.High-confidence peptide identifications were obtained by applying thefollowing filters to the search results: cross-correlation score(XCorr)>=1.9 for 1+, 2.2 for 2+,3.5 for 3+, and a maximum probabilityfor a random identification of 0.01. The list of identified proteins inTable 1 and Table 2 demonstrated that albumin and other high abundanceserum proteins were not present in the particles. On the other hand, thelist of identified proteins indicates that the particles sequesteredrare and small-sized serum proteins and peptides.

TABLE 1 Reference Accession P (pep) Sf Score MW complement component 1,q 56786155.0 4.83E−12 3.43E+00 40.28 25757.13 subcomponent, gammapolypeptide [Homo sapiens] complement component 1, r 66347875.0 5.65E−122.72E+00 30.24 80147.95 subcomponent [Homo sapiens] haptoglobin-relatedprotein 45580723.0 1.12E−11 9.76E−01 10.22 39004.70 [Homo sapiens]PREDICTED: similar to 113419208.0 1.12E−11 9.80E−01 10.22 11254.79Putative S100 calcium- binding protein A11 pseudogene [Homo sapiens]complement component 4A 67190748.0 1.12E−11 3.58E+00 40.24 192663.60preproprotein [Homo sapiens] orosomucoid 1 precursor 9257232.0 1.12E−118.17E−01 10.13 23496.77 [Homo sapiens] CD5 antigen-like (scavenger5174411.0 1.12E−11 3.80E+00 40.25 38062.96 receptor cysteine richfamily) [Homo sapiens] serum amyloid P component 4502133.0 1.12E−114.15E+00 50.20 25371.13 precursor [Homo sapiens] complement component 1,q 87298828.0 1.12E−11 9.82E−01 10.26 26704.49 subcomponent, B chainprecursor [Homo sapiens] apolipoprotein A-I 4557321.0 1.12E−11 6.86E−0110.12 30758.94 preproprotein [Homo sapiens] haptoglobin [Homo sapiens]4826762.0 1.12E−11 3.70E+00 40.21 45176.59 complement component 1, q7705753.0 1.12E−11 8.24E−01 10.15 26000.19 subcomponent, A chainprecursor [Homo sapiens] platelet factor 4 (chemokine 4505733.0 1.12E−111.80E+00 20.16 10837.89 (C-X-C motif) ligand 4) [Homo sapiens]immunoglobulin J chain 21489959.0 1.12E−11 9.45E−01 10.15 18087.00 [Homosapiens] lysozyme precursor [Homo 4557894.0 1.12E−11 9.03E−01 10.1516526.29 sapiens] transthyretin [Homo sapiens] 4507725.0 1.12E−116.77E−01 10.13 15877.05 dermcidin preproprotein 16751921.0 1.12E−118.66E−01 10.13 11276.83 [Homo sapiens] mesotrypsin preproprotein21536452.0 1.12E−11 9.37E−01 10.17 26680.18 [Homo sapiens] alpha 1globin [Homo 4504347.0 1.12E−11 9.62E−01 10.16 15247.92 sapiens] betaglobin [Homo sapiens] 4504349.0 1.12E−11 9.36E−01 10.17 15988.29hypothetical protein 91206438.0 1.12E−11 8.68E−01 10.18 22058.92LOC649897 [Homo sapiens] complement component 1, s 41393602.0 1.12E−119.25E−01 10.15 76634.85 subcomponent [Homo sapiens] protein kinase C andcasein 6005826.0 1.12E−11 8.23E−01 10.15 55870.13 kinase substrate inneurons 2 [Homo sapiens] PREDICTED: similar to 89036176.0 1.12E−118.89E−01 10.14 36406.56 Keratin, type II cytoskeletal 2 oral(Cytokeratin-2P) (K2P) (CK 2P) [Homo sapiens] platelet factor 4 variant1 4505735.0 1.12E−11 8.70E−01 10.19 11545.28 [Homo sapiens] bromodomaincontaining 7 41350212.0 1.12E−11 8.63E−01 10.18 74092.27 [Homo sapiens]SH3-domain binding protein 19923155.0 1.12E−11 2.64E−01 10.13 62220.29 2[Homo sapiens] zinc finger, CCHC domain 57863250.0 1.12E−11 8.14E−0110.17 184587.10 containing 11 isoform c [Homo sapiens] apolipoproteinA-II 4502149.0 1.12E−11 8.90E−01 10.14 11167.90 preproprotein [Homosapiens] heterogeneous nuclear 51477708.0 1.12E−11 6.31E−01 10.1830653.14 ribonucleoprotein D isoform d [Homo sapiens] polo-like kinase 4[Homo 21361433.0 1.12E−11 6.16E−01 10.13 109016.40 sapiens]apolipoprotein L1 isoform a 21735614.0 1.12E−11 6.63E−01 10.12 43946.95precursor [Homo sapiens] coronin, actin binding 16554583.0 1.12E−119.33E−01 20.14 59697.38 protein, 2A [Homo sapiens]

Table 1. Mass spectrometry analysis of proteins electroeluted from NIPAmparticles after 1 hr incubation with 1:10 v Iv dilution serum, P(pep)displays the probability value for the peptide, Sf displays the finalscore that indicated how good the protein match is, Score displays avalue that is based upon the probability that the peptide is a randommatch to the spectral data, Accession displays a unique proteinidentification number for the sequence.

TABLE 2 Reference Accession P (pep) Sf Score MW complement component 1,q 56786155.0 3.55E−14 1.86E+00 20.30 25757.13 subcomponent, gammapolypeptide [Homo sapiens] hypothetical protein 91206438.0 3.55E−142.90E+00 30.26 22058.92 LOC649897 [Homo sapiens] PREDICTED: similar to113419208.0 3.55E−14 1.46E+00 20.25 11254.79 Putative S100 calcium-binding protein A11 pseudogene [Homo sapiens] apolipoprotein C-III4557323.0 3.55E−14 9.79E−01 10.24 10845.50 precursor [Homo sapiens]pro-platelet basic protein 4505981.0 3.55E−14 5.61E+00 60.25 13885.42precursor [Homo sapiens] complement component 3 4557385.0 3.55E−149.80E−01 10.20 187045.30 precursor [Homo sapiens] small nuclear4507129.0 3.55E−14 9.15E−01 10.19 10796.64 ribonucleoprotein polypeptideE [Homo sapiens] keratin 2 [Homo sapiens] 47132620.0 3.55E−14 5.75E+0070.21 65393.19 albumin precursor [Homo 4502027.0 3.55E−14 9.28E+00100.22 69321.63 sapiens] ribosomal protein L37a 4506643.0 3.55E−149.73E−01 10.21 10268.48 [Homo sapiens] complement component 4A67190748.0 3.55E−14 1.91E+00 20.17 192663.60 preproprotein [Homosapiens] A-gamma globin [Homo 28302131.0 3.55E−14 9.44E−01 10.1416118.27 sapiens] platelet factor 4 (chemokine 4505733.0 3.55E−143.44E+00 40.18 10837.89 (C-X-C motif) ligand 4) [Homo sapiens]PREDICTED: hypothetical 113418327.0 3.55E−14 8.55E−01 10.19 31688.42protein [Homo sapiens] H4 histone family, member 4504315.0 3.55E−141.51E+00 20.13 11360.38 J [Homo sapiens] lysozyme precursor [Homo4557894.0 3.55E−14 9.66E−01 10.20 16526.29 sapiens] mesotrypsinpreproprotein 21536452.0 3.55E−14 9.68E−01 10.18 26680.18 [Homo sapiens]alpha 1 globin [Homo 4504347.0 3.55E−14 9.15E−01 10.14 15247.92 sapiens]fibrinogen, alpha 4503689.0 3.55E−14 8.35E−01 10.12 94914.27 polypeptideisoform alpha-E preproprotein [Homo sapiens] hypothetical protein21361734.0 3.55E−14 6.53E−01 10.12 83244.77 LOC55683 [Homo sapiens]crumbs homolog 1 precursor 41327708.0 3.55E−14 6.87E−01 10.15 154080.40[Homo sapiens] PREDICTED: similar to 41146739.0 3.55E−14 6.26E−01 10.1541686.95 glutamate receptor, ionotropic, N-methyl D- aspartate-like 1Aisoform 1 isoform 1 [Homo sapiens] PREDICTED: similar to 113419903.03.55E−14 7.75E−01 10.12 10194.18 Neutrophil defensin 1 precursor (HNP-1)(HP-1) (HP1) (Defensin, alpha 1) [Homo sapiens] CDK5 regulatory subunit28872784.0 3.55E−14 9.05E−01 10.12 56187.84 associated protein 1 isoformb [Homo sapiens] complement component 1, q 87298828.0 3.55E−14 8.90E−0110.15 26704.49 subcomponent, B chain precursor [Homo sapiens]interferon-induced protein 31542980.0 3.55E−14 9.40E−01 10.22 55949.57with tetratricopeptide repeats 3 [Homo sapiens] lamin A/C isoform 127436946.0 3.55E−14 8.73E−01 10.14 74094.81 precursor [Homo sapiens]double C2-like domains, 6005997.0 3.55E−14 5.53E−01 10.13 45920.53 beta[Homo sapiens] desmoglein 4 [Homo 29789445.0 3.55E−14 9.06E−01 10.13113751.30 sapiens] cadherin EGF LAG seven- 7656967.0 3.55E−14 1.56E+0020.14 329276.70 pass G-type receptor 1 [Homo sapiens] procollagen, typeIII, alpha 4502951.0 3.55E−14 9.12E−01 10.15 138470.20 1 [Homo sapiens]ATPase, H+ transporting, 20357547.0 3.55E−14 8.61E−01 10.16 13361.95lysosomal 14 kD, V1 subunit F [Homo sapiens]

Table 2. Mass spectrometry analysis of proteins electroeluted fromNIPAmJAAc particles after 1 hr incubation with 1: 10 v Iv dilutionserum, P(pep) displays the probability value for the peptide, Sfdisplays the final score that indicated how good the protein match is,Score displays a value that is based upon the probability that thepeptide is a random match to the spectral data, Accession displays aunique protein identification number for the sequence.

Example 11 Protein Sequestration by Particle Blocks Protease Degradation

One of the major problems associated with biological fluids is thepotential for sample degradation during collection, transport, storageand analysis. Endogenous clotting cascade enzymes, enzymes released fromdamaged cells, or exogenous enzymes (from contaminating bacteria) cancontribute to the degradation of diagnostically important proteins, asschematically shown in FIG. 13.

The lack of standardized preservation methods could result in bias inhigh-throughput analysis of serum and plasma (Ayache et al., Americanjournal of clinical pathology 2006, 126, (2), 174-84). While it wasexpected that proteases with MW greater than the MWCO of the particles(˜20,000 Da) would be excluded from the interior space of the particlesand thereby denied access to captured proteins, smaller proteases suchas trypsin (23,800 Da) are more likely to be able to enter theparticles. Additionally, it was not known whether proteases that enteredcharged-bait particles would retain their enzymatic potency when boththe substrate proteins and the enzyme were sequestered by the particles(FIG. 12). Therefore, NIPAm/AAc particles were incubated at 37° C. in apH 7 NH4HC03 (100 mM) solution containing lysozyme (0.5 mg/mL) andtrypsin (0.05 mg/mL, Promega). Trypsin was selected for these studiesbased on its small size and the fact that the tryptic digestion oflysozyme would produce very characteristic cleavage products. Theconditions used in this experiment would allow both lysozyme and trypsinto enter the particle. Analysis of the captured proteins by SDS PAGEafter incubation for 1 hour and overnight showed only two bands—onecorresponding to trypsin and the other to the full length lysozyme,indicating that no degradation of the protein had occurred (FIG. 14A).Incubation of lysozyme (0.5 mg/mL) with trypsin (0.05 mg/mL) at 37° C.in a pH 7 NH4HC03 (100 mM) solution in the absence of NIPAm/AAcparticles resulted in degradation of lysozyme. SDS-PAGE analysis of thereaction after incubation for 1 hour and overnight clearly indicated thepresence of low molecular weight peptide fragments, which showed thatlysozyme was proteolyzed by trypsin in the absence of NIPAm/AAcparticles. These results clearly indicate that sequestration of smallproteins by affinity-bait particles can effectively shield boundproteins from proteases including those that are capable of entering theparticles interior.

In order to better understand the benefits associated with sequestrationof proteins by NIPAm/AAc affinity-bait particles, NIPAm/AAc particleswere incubated at 37° C. with a combination of BSA (0.5 mg/mL), lysozyme(0.5 mg/mL) and trypsin (0.05 mg/mL) in 100 mM NH4HC03 (PH7). As withthe previous protection study, the reaction was analyzed using SDS-PAGEafter incubating 1 hr and overnight. In the absence of NIPAm/AAcparticles, the majority of BSA had been digested after 1 hr and the bandcorresponding to full-length BSA had disappeared after incubatingovernight (FIG. 14B). As was noted earlier, the NIPAm/AAc particlesefficiently sequestered both lysozyme and trypsin, and protectedlysozyme from proteolysis by trypsin. However, the particles did notbind BSA, and the presence of low molecular weight bands in thesupernatant after 1 hour and overnight incubation accompanied by thedecrease in intensity of the band corresponding to full-length BSAindicates that BSA was not protected from degradation by trypsin.Suppression of proteolytic activity by enzymes small enough to enter theparticles, such as trypsin, may occur because immobilization of theenzymes by the charge-bait particle prevents them from binding substrateproteins or may be the result of steric hindrance associated withtrapping of the substrate by the affinity-bait groups in the particlethus preventing enzymes from productively binding target proteins insidethe particle. Thus, the functional state of the proteins sequestered bythe charge-bait may be similar to that of proteins arrested using aprecipitating fixative treatment.

Even if products of enzymatic degradation were clearly shown in theabove presented results, the unfolded state of lysozyme is known tocontain region resistant to trypsin proteolysis (Noda et al.,Biopolymers, 1994, 34, (2), 217-226). Therefore, incubation withparticles was repeated with reduced and alkylated lysozyme in order toexclude any bias. Lysozyme was reduced by incubation with Dithiothreitol(DTT) (10 mM) in NH4HC03 buffer (50 mM, pH 8) containing urea (2 M) forone hour at room temperature. Iodoacetamide was added to the solution toa final concentration of 50 mM and let react in the dark for 30 minutes.Buffer was exchanged and protein washed with MilliQ water by means ofCentricon centrifugal filter units (Millipore) with MWCO of 3,000 Da.Lysozyme was resuspended in NH4HC03 (pH 8,100 mM) to an estimated finalconcentration of 0.5 mg/mL; trypsin (0.05 mg/mL) and NIPAm/AAc particleswere added and the solution was incubated for 1 hour at 37° C. Particleswere washed as previously described and loaded on SDS PAGE. In FIG. 15Ait is shown that particles are able to protect lysozyme from degradationeven in its reduced and alkylated form.

In order to better understand the mechanism of protection fromproteolysis, an experiment was performed with plain particles. NIP Amparticles were incubated at 37 C in a pH 7 NH4HC03 (100 mM) solutioncontaining reduced and alkylated lysozyme (0.5 mg/mL) and trypsin (0.05mg/mL) for one hour. The results are reported in FIG. 15B and showproducts of lysozyme degradation inside the particles. This suggeststhat the AAc bait plays a fundamental role in protecting proteins fromdegradation.

The development and application of hydrogel bait-containing particles asa new tool for harvesting and concentrating small molecule analytes andbiomarker candidates from biological fluids has been described, allowinghigh throughput analysis of low-abundance and low molecular weightcomponents. These nanoparticles present a rapid and straightforwardworkflow for direct utility in raw body fluids, while the work hereindescribed the particles with a negative charge that preferentially bindcationic species, positively charged particles such as aNIPAm/allylamine copolymer could be used to selectively harvest andconcentrate anionic species from biological fluids. Similarly,hydrophobic metabolites could be captured for comprehensive metabolomicstudies by using more hydrophobic particles such as NIPAm/styrenecopolymers. Analyte-specific chemical or protein or nucleic acidaffinity baits can be incorporated. For example, boronate-containingparticles, which are known to bind saccharides, would be utilized tosequester glycoproteins from solution (Ivanov et al., Journal ofmolecular recognition 2006, 19, (4), 322-31). Consequently,NIPAm-allylamine copolymers are currently being synthesized that containa bait for anionic proteins. Moreover, p-vinylphenylboronic acid (VPBA)is under consideration as a copolymer for harvesting of sugars andnucleic acids. Further affinity baits such as triazinil-based reactivedyes (that have affinity towards proteins), hexadecylamine (for lipidsuptake) and cyclodextrins (able to associate small molecules) are beingnoncovalently or covalently immobilized within the particles. Inparticular the bait chemistry described above has been used to harvestthe following small metabolites L-Dopa, homogentisic acid, Dopamine,Dopac and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid. This extends the utility of thetechnology to the realm of metabolomics.

Combining a variety of affinity chemistries with a size-sieving tool ina one-step process could have enormous utility for disease markerdiscovery and analysis workflows.

In the workflow presented in this study, proteins are denatured wheneluted out of particles and then analyzed in mass spectrometry forbiomarker discovery. Nevertheless, it is important to note that theharvesting conditions are conducted with native protein mixtures. Thispermits future applications that require the analytes of interest to bein their native state (immulite, radioimmunoassays). For theseapplications it would important that proteins are not denatured whenreleased from the particles. Ahmad and colleagues have demonstrated,using circular dichroism, that molecules for drug delivery released fromNiPam particles by temperature changes retained their nativeconformational state (Ahmad et al., Colloid & Polymer Science 2002, 280,(4), 310-315). Consequently possible means of eluting native proteinsfrom the particles include modifying the temperature or pH of thesolution, increasing the ionic strength, or electro eluting the proteinsunder non denaturing conditions, in the absence of detergent.

Example 12 NIPAm/AAc Core—NIPAm Shell Particles Synthesis

In this particle architecture, a core, containing affinity baitmoieties, is surrounded by a NIPAm shell. The sieving capability of theNIPAm shell will shield the core and its affinity bait groups fromlarger molecules that may be present and could compete with the intendedlow-abundance low molecular weight molecular targets for binding to theaffinity bait in the core. A shell solution was prepared by dissolvingNIPAm, 0.02 molar equivalents each of BIS and SDS in H₂0 and filteringthe solution through a membrane filter. The solution was degassed undervacuum for several minutes and then purged with nitrogen for 2 h at roomtemperature with stirring. While the shell solution was purged, the coresolution was prepared by dissolving NIPAm, 0.08 molar equivalents of AAcand 0.02 molar equivalents of BIS in H20 and then the solution wasfiltered. The core solution was then degassed and purged with nitrogenat 70° C. as described for the preparation of the NIP Am particles. Oncethe solution had equilibrated at 70° C. and stirred under nitrogen for 1hour, APS (0.005 molar equivalents) was added to the core solution.After the NIPAm/AAc core reaction had been allowed to incubate for 3 hat 70° C. under nitrogen, the shell solution was added to the reactionflask followed by and additional aliquot of APS. The reaction was thenallowed to stir at 70° C. under nitrogen for an additional 3 h. At whichpoint, the reaction was removed from heat and allowed to stir overnightunder nitrogen at room temperature. The particles were then collectedand washed in the same fashion as described for the NIP Am particles.

Example 13 Core Shell Particles have the Same Molecular Sieving Cut Offas NIPAm/AAc

Light scattering measurement of core shell particles diameter gave avalue of 1048 nm for the NIPAm/AAc core and 1198 nm when the NIP Amshell was added. In order to determine if core shell particles had thesame molecular weight cut off (MWCO) as NIPAm/AAc particles, a solutionof protein molecular weight markers was used. The solution consisted of0.5 mg/mL of each of the following proteins: aprotinin (MW 6,500 Da,Sigma-Aldrich), lysozyme (MW 14,400 Da, Sigma-Aldrich), trypsininhibitor (MW 21,500 Da, Invitrogen), carbonic anhydrase (MW 31,000 Da,Sigma-Aldrich), ovalbumin (MW 45,000 Da, Sigma-Aldrich), and BSA (MW66,000 Da, Fisher Scientific) dissolved in Tris (pH 7, 50 mM).Incubation time was 1 hour and particles were washed as described in themanuscript. SDS PAGE analysis reported in FIG. 16 shows a substantialagreement in MWCO values for the two types of particles.

Example 14 Core Shell Particles Protect Lysozyme from ChymotrypsinEnzymatic Degradation

Another protease, α-chymotrypsin (MW 25,000 Da, pI=8.75, Sigma), waschosen to prove the ability of particles to protect proteins fromdegradation. α-chymotrypsin was used at a ratio of 1:10 (w/w) forα-chymotrypsin:lysozyme.

Lysozyme digestion was performed in 100 mM Tris HCl containing 10 mMCaCl2, pH 7.8, at 30° C. for 3 hours. Core shell particles wereincubated with lysozyme and trypsin in the digestion conditionsdescribed above. Also in this case, particles protected lysozyme fromchymotrypsin degradation (FIG. 17, lane 5). Lysozyme degradation is alsoevident in the incubation without particles (FIG. 17, lane 3).

In relation to capturing particles in bodily fluid for such activitiesas “doping” detection, the following practical procedure and method isbeneficial.

N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) based particles that contain differentflavors of baits to perform affinity capture of analytes in solution areavailable to target the following classes of molecules:

-   -   1. Cationic Proteins & Polypeptides (Bait: Acrylic Acid)    -   2. Anionic proteins & polypeptides (bait: allylamine,        1-vinylmidazole, N,N′ dimethylaminopropymethacrylamidel)    -   3. Proteins & polipeptides in general (bait: Cibacron blue F3GA,        Procion Red H8BN)    -   4. Small molecules, cholesterol (bait: cyclodextrin)    -   5. Polysaccarides, glycopeptides, RNA (bait: p-vinylphenyl        Boronic Acid, NAcryoyl m-aminophenyl Boronic Acid)    -   6. Phosphopeptides (bait: Ti02)        This particles library has been tested in order to capture a        mixture of acidic small proteins that mimicked hGH. The mixture        contained the following proteins: Beta Caseine, 25 KDa, pI 4.98;        S100A6 10 KDa, pI 5.32; Marcks 3.3 KDa, pI 4.2; Angiotensin 1,        1.3 KDa, pI 6.92 dissolved at the concentration of 1 uM in 50 mM        Tris HCl pH 7.

SDS-PAGE analysis showed that particles loaded with Cibacron Blue dyewere the only batch of particles capable of harvesting proteins fromsolution (FIG. 18). It should be noted that the reactive blue dye is thesame and consequently also referred to as the Cibacron Blue.

The hydrogel nanoparticles were prepared via precipitationpolymerization under a nitrogen atmosphere using a protocol based onthat reported by Jones and Lyon for the synthesis of NIPAm-co-AAcparticles (10).

N-Isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm), N—N′-methylenebis(acrylamide) (BIS),potassium persulfate (KPS), allylamine (AA), and Reactive Blue 2 werepurchased from Sigma-Aldrich.

All reagents were used as received. Water for all reactions, solutionpreparation, and polymer washing was distilled, purified with aMillipore Milli-Q water purification system to a resistance of 18 MΩ andpassed through a 0.2 μm filter.

Poly(NIP Am-co-AA) Nanoparticles (10% AA)

NIPAm (0.89 g, 7.83 mmol), BIS (0.042 g, 0.27 mmol) were dissolved in 30mL of H20 and then filtered in the same manner as above. The solutionwas purged with nitrogen for 15 min at room temperature and medium stirrate before AA (0.051 g, 0.90 mmol) was added. The solution was purgedwith nitrogen for another 15 min and then heated to 75° C. The basis forthis specific step in the polymerization method of the poly(NIPAm-co-AA)particle can be found elsewhere (11). KPS (0.0070 g, 0.025 mmol) in 1.0mL of H20 was added to the solution to initiate polymerization. Thereaction was maintained at 75° C. under nitrogen for 3 h. After 3 h, thereaction was allowed to cool to room temperature overnight. Theparticles were then harvested and washed via centrifugation (Eppendorf5415R centrifuge) for 20 minutes at 23° C. and 16,100 ref. Thesupernatant was decanted and the particles were redispersed in 1.0 mLH20. This concentration/redispersion process was repeated for a total offive washes.

Poly(NIPAm-co-AA) Nanoparticles (1% AA)

Particles containing 1% AA were generated using the method describedabove with minor adjustment. In synthesizing the 1% AA poly(NIPAm-co-AA)particles, NIP Am (0.97 g, 8.64 mmol) and AA (0.0067 g, 0.090 mmol) wereused. The amount of BIS (0.042 g, 0.27 mmol) and KPS (0.0070 g, 0.025mmol) used were unchanged.

Blue-Dye Poly(NIPAm-co-AA) Nanoparticles (10% AA)

Reactive Blue 2 (0.38 g, 0.45 mmol) was dissolved in 5 mL of 0.1 Maqueous sodium carbonate. The poly(NIPAm-co-AA) solution (5 mL volume)was purged with nitrogen for 15 min at medium stir rate in a 100 mLthree-neck round-bottom flask, after which solid sodium carbonate (0.053g) was added. The solution was then allowed to stir at room temperatureunder nitrogen for ˜1 min. The Reactive Blue 2 solution was then added,and the combined reaction mixture was then allowed to proceed at roomtemperature under nitrogen for 48 h. The particles were then harvestedand washed via centrifugation (Eppendorf 5415R centrifuge) for 20minutes at 23° C. and 16,100 ref. The supernatant was decanted and theparticles were redispersed in 1.0 mL H20. Thisconcentration/redispersion step was repeated until the supernatant wasclear.

Dye Loading Determination

Dye loading was determined via spectrophotometry (Thermo Spectronic20+). Different amounts of Reactive Blue 2 were dissolved in H20 to makestock solutions with concentrations ranging from 0.09 mM to 0.11 mM. Acalibration curve was constructed using the stock solutions. Samples ofthe combined supernatant from the entire concentration/redispersionprocess were prepared by making 11125 dilution in H20. The absorbance ofthe supernatant was taken at wavelength 608 nm and the concentration wasextrapolated from the calibration curve.

Recombinant human hGH (22 KDa, pI 5.27—Humatrope, Lilly) was diluted in50 mM Tris HCl pH 7, 0.01 mg/ml and incubated with 100 ul of particlesloaded with different amount of Blue Dye (1% and 10%). After one hourincubation samples were centrifuged for 7 min. at 16.1 ref, 25 degreesC., to separate particles from the supernatant. Beads were resuspendedin 1 ml of water and centrifuged. Washing and centrifugation steps wererepeated 3 times. SDS PAGE analysis showed that particles captured hGHin solution and that the uptake was dependent on the percentage ofloaded dye (FIG. 19).

In order to recreate conditions similar to physiologic urine, we studiedthe effect of Urea, salts and different pH values on the particlesbehavior.

Solutions of 0.01 mg/ml hGH in the following buffers: Urea 0.7 mg/ml,KCl 6.0 mg/ml, 50 mM Sodium Citrate Buffer pH 4, 5 and 6, 50 mM Tris HClpH 7 and 8, 50 mM Carbonate-Bicarbonate Buffer pH 10 were incubated with100 ul of particles for one hour. We centrifuged and washed theparticles as described above. SDS PAGE analysis demonstrated thatphysiological concentrations of Urea and salts did not hinder hGH uptakeby particles and the optimal pH range is 4 to 6, while higher pH levelsshowed lower to no uptake.

In the optimal conditions, particles were capable to raise hGHconcentration from a not detectable level (lane 2) to a clearly visibleband (lane 4, 6, 8, 18, 20) (FIG. 20 a-20 b). As shown in FIG. 21 Weperformed the same experiment varying pH levels (4, 5, 6.7, 8) withsynthetic urine (SURINE, Dyna-Tek Industries) which is routinely used asnegative control for different urine tests, obtaining sequestration ofhGH at each pH point and assessing pH 5 as the optimal uptake condition.

Relying upon the aforementioned results, we decided to carry out theincubations at pH 5 and then to increase the pH in order to elute hGHfrom particles. Aliquots of 1 ml of 0.01 mg/ml hGH in synthetic urine atpH 5 were incubated with 100 ul of dye particles and washed aspreviously described. The following elution buffers were tested: 50 mMtris HCl pH 7 and 8, 50 mM Carbonate-Bicarbonate Buffer pH 10. Thepreviously washed pellets were resuspended in the elution buffers andincubated for 15 min. and centrifuged (7 min, 25 C, 16.1 rcf). Theelution step was repeated 2 times. We obtained partial elution at allpH, with higher yield at more basic conditions (FIG. 22).

Aiming at complete retrieval of hGH from dye particles, we testedstronger elution buffers, namely Acetonitrile 50%/NH4C03 50 mM andAcetonitrile 60%/NH40H 4%, and relying on the property of particles toshrink at higher temperature, we performed the elution at 38 C for onehour.

Entire elution was obtained by using Acetonitrile 60%/NH40H 4% bufferand almost entire elution was obtained with Acetonitrile 50%/NH4CO03 50mM (FIG. 23).

We performed a time course to test the stability of the uptaken hGH overa period of 48 hours. Dye particles (100 ul) were incubated with 1 ml of0.01 mg/ml hGH in synthetic urine for 1, 4, 24, and 48 hours at roomtemperature. SDS PAGE analysis showed no detectable loss of hGH in eachincubation time.

In order to obtain a quantitative measurement of hGH in our samples,after concentration from urine by nanoparticles, we applied animmunometric assay (IMMULITE-Siemens Medical Solution Diagnostic),routinely used in clinical setting for serum measurements. Immulitedetection limits span between 40 ng/ml and 0.05 ng/ml.

Estimated hGH concentration in healthy individual's urine is in therange of pg/ml, and therefore below the detection limit of Immulite.

Aliquots of 1 ml of hGH solution in synthetic urine below the detectionlimit of Immulite (0.05 ng/ml) were incubated for 1 hour with 100 ul ofdye particles, protein were eluted from the washed particles withAcetonitrile 60%/NH40H 4% buffer at 38 C in a total volume of 30 ul.Immulite readings were performed on a volume of 30 ul. As shown in FIG.24 previously undetectable levels of hGH was recovered from theparticles and successfully quantified by Immulite at the concentrationof 83 pg/ml. A similar experiment with a more concentrated hGH solutionwas performed. The concentration of hGH in the stating solution was0.138 ng/ml, whereas the concentration of hGH recovered from particleswas 1.90 ng/ml yielding a concentration factor of about 14 fold.

CONCLUSIONS

The experiments here reported demonstrated that:

-   -   Cibacron blue bait loaded hydrogel particles harvest and        concentrate hGH from model solutions and synthetic urine at pH<7        in the presence of physiologic salt and urea concentrations    -   The harvested hGH is stable for at least 48 hours    -   hGH was successfully eluted by means of strong bases        (NH40HINH4HC03-acetonitrile)    -   The elution method was totally compatible with immunometric        clinical immunoassay measurement (Immulite)        Undetectable concentrations of hGH (below 0.05 ng/ml) in a        standard detection volume of 30 uL could be increased ten fold        to reach a fully detectable concentration (sample volume 1 mL)

The present invention includes a method for producing capturingparticles in bodily fluid. This method is comprised of mixingN-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) based particles that contain a type ofbait in a solution and performing affinity capture of analytes, theanalytes contained in the solution. The bait is acrylic acid whencationic proteins and polypeptides are in the solution. The bait also isallylamine, 1-vinylmidazole, and N,N′ dimethylaminopropymethacrylamidelwhen anionic proteins and polypeptides are in the solution or the baitis cibacron blue F3GA and procion red H8BN when proteins & polipeptidesare in the solution. It also should be noted that the bait isp-vinylphenyl boronic acid and N-Acryoyl m-aminophenyl boronic acid whenpolysaccarides, glycopeptides, and RNA are in the solution wherein thebait is TiO2 when phosphopeptides are in the solution.

Moreover, the present invention is a capture particle for isolating ananalyte from a mixture, comprising of a polymeric matrix, with thepolymeric matrix having a pore size that under certain conditions allowsfor the analyte to enter the polymeric matrix while excluding othercompounds from the mixture from entering the polymeric matrix. theanalyte is selected from the group consisting of: metabolites, proteins,RNA, micro RNA, DNA, glycoproteins, lipids, glycolipids, proteolipids,hormones, cytokines, growth factors, biomarkers, drug compounds,synthetic organic compounds, volatile odorants, toxicants andpollutants. The polymeric matrix is expandable and contractible and whenthe polymeric matrix expands or contracts, the pore size of the gelmatrix expands or contracts, respectively. The polymeric matrix isexpandable and contractible in response to an applied stimulus and theapplied stimulus is a thermal, electrical, magnetic, ultrasound,pressure, radiant, laser, osmotic, or pH change. The polymeric matrix isexpandable or contractible upon treatment with an enzyme. The presentinvention also has an attractant. The attractant is sequestered with thecapture particle and covalently bonded to the capture particle. Theattractant also is integrated into the polymeric matrix and is anaffinity ligand. The affinity ligand comprises an antibody or protein,an aptamer, nucleic acid, a drug, a chemical, a metabolite, a lipid, aglycolipid, a phospholipid, a polypeptide, an affinity group, or a metalgroup and is further comprised of a detectable label. The attractant isacrylic acid when cationic proteins and polypeptides are in the mixture,with the attractant being allylamine, 1-vinylmidazole, and N,N′dimethylaminopropymethacrylamidel when anionic proteins and polypeptidesare in the mixture. The attractant is cibacron blue F3GA and procion redH8BN when proteins & polipeptides are in the mixture and the attractantis cyclodextrin when cholesterol is in the mixture. The attractant isp-vinylphenyl boronic acid and N-Acryoyl m-aminophenyl boronic acid whenpolysaccarides, glycopeptides, and RNA are in the mixture and theattractant is TiO2 when phosphopeptides are in the mixture.

The present invention also relates to a capture particle for isolatingan analyte from a mixture. This is comprised of a co-polymeric matrixcomprising a structural monomer and an affinity monomer, with thepolymeric matrix having a pore size that under certain conditions allowsfor the analyte to enter the polymeric matrix while excluding othercompounds from the mixture from entering the polymeric matrix and wherethe analyte is selected from the group consisting of: metabolites,proteins, RNA, micro RNA, DNA, glycoproteins, lipids, glycolipids,proteolipids, hormones, cytokines, growth factors, biomarkers, drugcompounds, synthetic organic compounds, volatile odorants, toxicants andpollutants. The capture particle has a molecular weight cutoff size ofabout 5 to about 100 kDa. The capture particle also can have a molecularweight cutoff size of about 20 to about 50 kDa. The structural monomeris selected from the group consisting of: acrylamide and derivativesthereof, N-alkyl substituted acrylamides; N,N-methylenebisacrylamide,N,N-cystaminebisacrylamide, N-vinylalkylamides, acrylic acid,methacrylic acid, allylamine, styrene, benzyl glutamate, 2-ethylacrylicacid, 4-vinylpyridine, silicone, hydroxyethyl methacrylate, ethyleneoxide, butylenes terephthalate, 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonicacid, vinylpyrrolidone, ethylenevinyl acetate, lactide, glycolide,caprolactone, hydroxyalkanoate, chitosan, hyaluronic acid, starch,cellulose and agarose. The structural monomer is N-isopropylacrylicacid. Meanwhile, the affinity monomer comprises a positively chargedmoiety and the positively charged moiety is selected from the groupconsisting of: amine groups and amide groups. The affinity monomercomprises a negatively charged moiety, where the negatively chargedmoiety is selected from the group consisting of: carboxylic acid groups,hydroxyl groups, thiol groups and phosphate groups.

While the affinity monomer is selected from the group consisting of:affinity dyes, boronic acid groups, nucleic acids, glycopeptides,glycoproteins, cyclodextrins, calixarenes, porphyrin groups, andaliphatic groups, the affinity monomer is acrylic acid, particularly inregard to when cationic proteins and polypeptides are in the mixture.The affinity monomer is allylamine, 1-vinylmidazole, and N,N′dimethylaminopropymethacrylamidel when anionic proteins and polypeptidesare in the mixture. The affinity monomer is cibacron blue F3GA andprocion red H8BN when proteins & polipeptides are in the mixture and theaffinity monomer is cyclodextrin when cholesterol is in the mixture.Also, the affinity monomer is p-vinylphenyl boronic acid and N-Acryoylm-aminophenyl boronic acid when polysaccarides, glycopeptides, and RNAare in the mixture and the affinity monomer is TiO2 when phosphopeptidesare in the mixture. In addition, the captured analyte is eluted byappropriate buffers and by electro-elution.

A kit for capturing particles in bodily fluid also is envisioned withthe present invention to include a collection vile, a compartment in thecollection vile and particles in the compartment.

The kit also is comprised of bodily fluid in the collection vile, withthe compartment being loose and porous.

I claim:
 1. A method of capturing analytes in a bodily fluid,comprising: mixing a solution containing open-meshwork hydrogel captureparticles that contain an analyte binding affinity molecule with a fluidsolution that contains an analyte of interest.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the capture particles are comprised of N-isopropylacrylamide(NIPAm).
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the open-meshwork hydrogelcapture particles that contain an analyte binding affinity molecule arecovalently coupled within a volume of the open meshwork hydrogel captureparticles.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the analytebinding affinity molecule capturing the analyte of interest against aconcentration gradient resulting in a higher analyte of interestconcentration within the volume of the open-meshwork hydrogel captureparticles.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the analytebinding affinity molecule capturing the analyte of interest.
 6. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the open-meshwork hydrogel capture particlesthat contain an analyte binding affinity molecule are covalently coupledwithin a volume of the open meshwork hydrogel capture particles.
 7. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising the analyte binding affinitymolecule capturing the analyte of interest against a concentrationgradient resulting in a higher analyte of interest concentration withinthe volume of the open-meshwork hydrogel capture particles.
 8. Themethod of claim 2, further comprising the analyte binding affinitymolecule capturing the analyte of interest.
 9. The method of claim 3,wherein the capture particles are comprised of N-isopropylacrylamide(NIPAm).
 10. The method of claim 3, further comprising the analytebinding affinity molecule capturing the analyte of interest against aconcentration gradient resulting in a higher analyte of interestconcentration within the volume of the open-meshwork hydrogel captureparticles.
 11. The method of claim 3, further comprising the analytebinding affinity molecule capturing the analyte of interest.
 12. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the capture particles are comprised ofN-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm).
 13. The method of claim 4, wherein theopen-meshwork hydrogel capture particles that contain an analyte bindingaffinity molecule are covalently coupled within a volume of the openmeshwork hydrogel capture particles.
 14. The method of claim 4, furthercomprising: the analyte binding affinity molecule capturing the analyteof interest.
 15. The method of claim 4, further comprising eluting theanalyte of interest, once captured, by a chemical treatment thatdissociates the analyte of interest from the analyte binding affinitymolecule within the volume of the open-meshwork hydrogel particles. 16.The method of claim 4, further comprising: eluting the analyte ofinterest, once captured, by a chemical treatment that dissociates theanalyte of interest from the analyte binding affinity molecule withinthe volume of the open-meshwork hydrogel particles such that the poresize of the open-meshwork hydrogel capture particles does not change.